Women from the campus and community shared their talents for the first-ever "Night of the Divas," sponsored by Advocates for Sexual Assault Prevention.
A packed audience of 450 people helped the event raise $1,450 for the Orange County Rape Crisis Center. This figure far exceeded ASAP's steering committee's hopes earlier in the week for a sum closer to $300. "We wanted women to get together to support other women, and no other event on campus is just for women," said Kathryn Kooistra, co-chairwoman of ASAP.
The audience whooped and hollered for such diverse acts as the women of Kamikazi, who danced to modern songs like Destiny's Child "Independent Women," and Carolina Style Ballet gliding across the stage to the Nutcracker's "Dance of the Reed Flutes."
The event presented more than 20 acts and lasted well past two hours. On the back of the program, a statistic that women in the United States 18 years and older are raped at a rate of 1.3 per minute served as a reminder of the event's purpose throughout the night.
"(ASAP) presented us with an amazing idea to raise money," said Matt Ezzell, coordinator of community education at Orange County Rape Crisis Center.
Ezzell said the money raised will be given to the crisis program's preventive community education program.
He used the example of how the Center's 24-hour crisis line can run for one month with just $100 to show how events such as the "Diva" night are beneficial. "We're very appreciative to the University and its community."
He said that aid does not only come in the form of charity but also from the students who volunteer at the center.
Rita Zota, a freshman from Fayetteville, performed the Indigo Girls song "Closer to Fine" with three other students. Zota said the importance of the event could be found not only in the money raised for a charitable cause, but for the venue it provided for women to display their talents.
