Me Too Monologues

As a senior, my end-of-college conversations have begun to sound similar. We speak of the classes we should have taken, the professors we should have had lunch with, and the talks we feigned too busy to attend. We remain skeptical that some of the frustrations we have with our administration or college culture will ever fully resolve, yet hold on to some hope as we see an eager underclassmen take over our club or campus issue. We talk about our thesis. And then we talk about it some more. Most of all, we remember the highlights of the past month, the past year, and our soon to be past college career.

 

One particular highlight for me was being a part of a campus production called Me Too Monologues. Created by a Duke alumnus, Me Too Monologues is a compilation of performance monologues submitted anonymously by Duke students. Sponsored first by the Center for Race relations and then by many other advocacy groups on campus, the show gave an opportunity for students to speak about important aspects of their identity. Writers can submit their monologues anonymously and student actors are chosen to deliver those monologues to an open audience of the Duke community. The monologues cover a diverse array of topics including race, gender, ethnicity, mental illness, sexual assault, domestic violence and many more. These stories are those of your fellow classmate, roommate or best friend. As you sit in the audience of the show you don’t know if the words on stage came from the person sitting right next to you. It was designed as a space in which students who often feel silenced, afraid, or ashamed about certain aspects of their identity are able to speak, in their own words, about what they find important.

 

I had seen the show every year since my freshman year, yet only in my senior year did I decide to audition to be an actress. When I received the acceptance email, I was excited to finally be a part of a project I had come to regard as one of the most honest and worthwhile events on Duke’s campus. I had seen the project grow from one show on one night my freshman year to 5 shows spanning over two weekends my senior year. The success of the program at Duke has urged other schools such as UNC-Chapel Hill, the University of Alabama, and Princeton to create their own Me Too Monologues. The success showed that there is a desperate need for a space where usually unheard stories can take center stage.

 

Yet, Me Too is not a perfect production. There is inherent power in choosing which stories are told, what events people feel comfortable submitting, and who has the privilege to perform them. As it grows in popularity, it may lose the intimacy and originality that made it a safe space for so many individuals. However, I think the show comes close to creating an authentic, reflective environment, where students can seek understanding and take steps toward empathizing with their fellow Duke student. 

 

Being a part of this process has urged me to reflect on what my internal monologue would be, especially after four years in college. If you had the opportunity to share an important aspect of your identity to a significant portion of your campus, what would you say? Would you talk about a formidable event or rant to anyone who would listen about why you hate your school? Would you focus on your gender, your class, your race, or the intersection of all your identity markers? What would you leave out?

 

And I guess the most important question is, would you even share it at all?