Capstone House event showcases oppression
There are 25 landfills in South Carolina alone.
When does religion go from being a force for good to being an excuse for evil?
One in three college students reports physically assaulting a dating partner (both heterosexual and same-sex partners).
The Tunnel of Awareness produced by University Housing, the Residence Hall Association and the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs educated students about these statistics and thought-provoking questions about topics concerning oppression.
The tunnel was created by using black curtains to block off different exhibits in the Capstone Campus Room Monday from 3 to 9 p.m. These exhibits displayed modern-day issues such as LGBT awareness, hate speech, sustainability, the bystander effect, violence and religion by using a combination of art and multimedia.
Olivia Keyes, a second-year media arts student, wrote and directed a short film showing the discrimination against a lesbian student.
“It’s taken from true stories about myself personally or my friends,” Keyes said.
Keyes said she received a lot of support for the film.
Tunnel of Awareness stemmed from Tunnel of Oppression, which originated at the Western Illinois University in 1993.
The diversity program sought to help participants emotionally experience and become aware of the realities of oppression.
Charles Lowman, head of Housing’s diversity committee, believed changing the title made the event less intimidating.
“I think ‘awareness’ frees you up to explore some things and isn’t as scary a word as ‘oppression,’” Lowman said.
“We’re just hoping to reach out to as many students as possible and bring awareness to as many oppressions as possible,” said Megan Jelley, Residence Hall Director of Sims House. “That’s a challenge in itself because oppression can take so many forms.”
If the tunnel became too intense or emotional for students, they were given the option to leave and speak with USC counselors and ministers. There was also a debriefing session for students after they came out of the tunnel led by the ministers and counselors. This gave students the opportunity to discuss what they saw and experienced in the tunnel.
“Ideally for most people it [raises] awareness,” said Ashley Freeman, a pre-doctoral psychology intern for the USC counseling center,. “It is an eye opener, and it’s a reminder that all these things are going on.”
Freeman described Tunnel of Awareness as an empathy-building activity.
The tunnel took about 30 minutes to go through, and Jelley said that based on the response she hopes to do it again next year.
“Students are passionate about these kinds of topics,” Jelley said. “They have a global understanding of the world, and they want to broaden their knowledge.”
The tunnel ended with an exhibit that had posters covering a wall where students could leave comments.
The exhibit was lit by a single lamp and encouraged participants to “be the light at the end of the tunnel.”