The Slate has existed on the campus of Shippensburg University for nearly 70 years, and it has not always been pretty. 

On Feb. 17, 2009, the assistant Arts & Entertainment editor published a scathing review of an SU production of Eve Hensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.” At the time, the monologues were a campus tradition performed each year around Valentine’s Day.

Almost exactly 15 years later, members of The Slate staff came across the article while cleaning out cabinets and thought it was appropriate to look at how the words have aged so very poorly.

We are not going to give space to the reviewer’s words, but the review contained multiple instances of sexist and misogynistic language and outright falsehoods about the production. He wrote that the production made male attendees feel like they should have “left their testicles at the door,” and it only got worse from there.

The response to the article led to some of the most intense backlash The Slate has received since its founding in 1957. The edition of The Slate on Feb. 24, a week after the review was published, featured more than two pages of responses to the commentary, none of which were positive. Some readers called for the assistant Arts & Entertainment editor and other editors to resign, and many called for a formal apology from The Slate.

One of those letters was from SU English professor and former Women’s and Gender Studies Director Shari Horner.

“I felt stunned that that student got away with writing that review,” Horner said. “I was shocked at how horrible it was. You know, like worse now than I think I even understood at the time.”

Ashley Hubler was involved in the production of the monologues and was an intern for the Women’s Center during the 2008-2009 academic year. She remembers not being able to go anywhere on campus without being asked about the article.

“It just reinforced to us the work we were doing with the show was even more important,” Hubler said. “People were flipping out!”

At the time, The Slate printed a newspaper every week, so the controversy remained abuzz on campus for several weeks. 

“The place where students were talking was The Slate,” Hubler said. “For that time, this was the hot thing.”

The Slate stood by the reviewer’s remarks, and the editor-in-chief at the time said in the Feb. 24 edition: “It seems that the critics of the article are more concerned with the negative review of the show, rather than responding publicly with the merits of their message.” 

The EIC went on to say “The Slate will not be issuing a retraction, apology or make amends for publishing a negative review.”

Fifteen years later, The Slate is apologizing. The editorial team that leads this organization today would never allow such vitriolic and blatantly false language to be printed in our paper. The world was very different in 2009, but it was still 2009.

“We’ve come a long way in 15 years on this campus,” Horner said. “I feel kind of proud of Ship now that I don’t think that would happen. Now, I think that we have a much greater sensitivity to that kind of just, you know, hateful misogyny and also a greater responsibility to making sure that you’re not just lying or misreporting.”

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