Villanova scraps artist's visit, inspires activism

Just a week after the cancellation of artist Tim Miller’s workshop at Villanova University on Feb. 19, students are still searching for answers.

The communications department at Villanova University invited Miller for a weeklong workshop, but once university officials discovered Miller’s past performances have included simulated sex and nudity, university President Rev. Peter M. Donohue cancelled the program.

“As an artist and a priest, I find the choices that Mr. Miller makes to be disturbing,” Donohue said in a Feb. 22 letter to the university community. “While some may disagree, as president of Villanova University I can assure you it is the explicit, graphic and sexual content of his performances that led to this decision -- a decision that in no way was affected by issues of sexual orientation.”

Villanova senior communication major Elizabeth Marafino was one of the 10 students who were signed up for the event and did not receive any notifications other than “that the workshop was cancelled.”

She says pulling the event because alumni withdrew donations due to Miller’s “sexuality, alleged anti-Catholic values and the content of his work pressured the administration financially” is not an “adequate response.”

“I hardly see how the content of his performances is relevant reason for him being uninvited,” Marafino said. “I personally believe the decision further marginalizes an at risk community at Villanova. I hope the administration will be willing to admit this in the coming week and issue a formal apology to Mr. Miller.”

Miller has it made clear over social media that he was never going to perform pieces at Villanova. Many students, such as Villanova junior communication and political science major Joe Cozza, are upset with how the president’s decision to pull the visit reflects on the university community.

“I in no way think Villanova is a homophobic institution,” said Cozza. “The [president’s] decision makes it appear as though the university is caving to homophobic pressures, which marginalizes the already vulnerable LGBT community on campus and undermines the academic goal of plurality of opinion in educational discourse.”

Since the event was cancelled, Cozza created a Facebook group called “Villanova’s Tim Miller Controversy — A Forum”, which has amassed more than 250 members in just one week. There was also a Letter to the Editor printed in The Villanovan by a university graduate student.

The activism has not stopped there. A petition was created and addressed to Donohue to reinstate the workshop with more than 1,000 signatures.

Among those who have signed the petition is Annastasia Masso, a junior nursing major at Villanova University.

“So many people could have learned so much from him, and so many minds could have been broadened. It is my understanding that the student body as a whole is upset by this,” Masso said.

Masso says there is a sit-down discussion titled “Igniting Change: Constructive Dialogue with the Villanova Community” planned for members of the board who decided to pull the event and the campus community scheduled for Feb. 28 for students to air their concerns.

“I believe the intentions behind Tim Miller's workshop have been misinterpreted,” said junior political science major Nina Trovato, who helped plan the discussion. “He was not here to perform or impose his views on the students. He was here to share and teach.”

Miller has since rescheduled his five-day workshop at Bryn Mawr College from April 16 through 20, and students at Villanova have been invited to attend the Philadelphia performance.

Kara Rose is a Spring 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.