Louisiana- Tulane University Campus Programming’s recent decision to screen the adult film “Deep Throat” caused an outcry from several groups both on and off campus due to the rape accusations associated with the movie.

The screening of adult films is a yearly tradition that TUCP began in the 1970s. It was not until 1990 that protests began, demanding TUCP stop showing the films.

“The first objections to the film that we know happened in 1990,” TUCP Vice President of Programming Heather Fugitt said. “As far as we know, from the beginning of the porn, 1990 was the first time anyone ever objected.”

The objections continued this year, as 30 protesters silently stood in front of McAlister Auditorium April 16 during the filming. The protesters held signs but were not allowed to talk to students entering the film or block the entrance.

Ally Duffy, a volunteer with the Young Women’s Christian Association’s Rape Crisis Program, was one of the protesters. Duffy explained her reasons for joining the protest.

“Linda Lovelace was raped and abused horribly in the process of making this film and I don’t see that as entertainment,” Duffy said. “I’m absolutely horrified that a prestigious university would sanction the screening of a film of this nature.”

Newcomb College sophomore Taylor Newton was also among those outside McAlister, though she cited different reasons for agreeing to do so.

“I believe that all people, especially women, have a dignity about them that pornography blatantly goes against,” she said.

The protesters did not completely stop students from going to the film, though. In fact, several in attendance at the protest were staunchly supportive of both TUCP’s decision to show the film as well as pornography in general.

“I think that saying porn causes rape is a lot like saying video games cause school shootings,” Alysha Rooks, a Newcomb College senior, said. “It just doesn’t make too much sense to me; there’s no real link of causality.”

Rooks also supported pornography as a method of supporting women’s sexuality.

“I think porn is a viable medium and saying that women are exploited by it is not giving enough credit to women. It victimizes women as opposed to letting them actualize themselves and take control of their own sexuality,” she said.

TUCP President Jacob Pewitt defended his organization’s decision to continue the showing of the film. Pewitt pointed to the debate as a goal of the program.

“It’s something that people talk about all year long, get very excited about,” Pewitt said. “We as an organization respect women and would not want to show something that is derogatory towards women.”

Although the film has not been held every year, Pewitt insisted any cancellations were caused by the TUCP executive board and not by outside protesters.

“There were a couple of periods’where the board decided not to show it for whatever reason,” he said. “They restarted it in 1998 and then in 2002 it wasn’t shown for a variety of reasons, mostly because the board put it off until too late and didn’t have time to secure the rights to the film.”

The Leanne Knot Violence Against Women Prevention Project spearheaded most of the efforts against the film. Marilyn Doucette-Robinson, a coordinator with the group, discussed the organization’s actions leading up to April 16.

“The actual talking to TUCP was always a concern, but we adopted the strategy to at least educate students about the film,” she said. “The protest came after the papering of campus. Students received information on how she was coerced into shooting the film and our position paper on pornography.”

The Leanne Knot Project posted fliers and distributed pamphlets with quotes from the autobiography of Linda Lovelace, the star of “Deep Throat,” saying she was forced to produce the film at gunpoint.

Not everyone believes Lovelace’s testimony, however. Before she denounced the pornography industry, she had published two autobiographies describing her support.

Also, those on hand during the filming of “Deep Throat” never reported seeing Lovelace threatened or even verbally abused, further detracting from her statements.

“The allegations that Linda Lovelace made are not very credible, based on some previous comments she had made in years past in media publications,” Craig Baker, president of the Tulane Catholic Center, said.

Pewitt also pointed out the film itself contained no violence whatsoever.

“There’s not a single scene of violence in the whole movie, there’s not a single derogatory comment made towards her or any other woman or women in general,” Pewitt said. “It’s just a very lighthearted and fun film.”

Others felt Lovelace’s accusations impacted public opinion of the film, even if the accusations were false.

“Whether the claims were proven or not, there was controversy over the book,” Lisa Linhardt, a Newcomb College sophomore, said. “A stain is still on the movie. It’s associated with violence. Just by choosing the movie, TUCP made a statement.”

Though she did not protest the film, Linhardt was behind the organization of alternate programming. Through her positions as the Tulane Catholic Center community service chair and a resident advisor in Doris Hall, she was able to convince the Tulane Catholic Center and the Residence Hall Association to co-sponsor a movie night at the same time as the special film showing in McAlister.

“It’s isolating not wanting to go,” she said. “[The students] didn’t want to be by themselves so we provide something they could do.”

The program was provided in seven dormitories and Linhardt estimates 120 students attended in all.