Tunnel of Oppression

What is the Tunnel of Oppression?

History

The Tunnel of Oppression is a campus diversity initiative originally developed at Western Illinois University. The initiative stemmed from a homogeneous campus environment searching for a way to represent the realities of oppression into a full sensory experiential manner. The creators of the Tunnel of Oppression wanted to give participants the opportunity to see, touch, hear, and feel the realities of oppression as a stepping stone towards creating diversity awareness. The first Tunnel of Oppression was loosely based off of the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, CA.

The Experience

The Tunnel of Oppression is program that will take people on a tour through a series of rooms where different kinds of injustice and other scenarios are acted out and/or depicted. The Tunnel experience will culminate when the group gets to the final stage of the tunnel called the reflection wall. Here, participants are given the opportunity to reflect on what they have just seen, heard and experienced.

The purpose of the Tunnel is to give people firsthand knowledge of some of the discrimination and injustice that occurs today. The Tunnel of Oppression is intended to be eye-opening and consciousness building. The experience should stimulate thoughts, feelings, and emotions around the issues and images presented.

The Issues

TOP3 The 2012 Tunnel will feature the following issues of oppression by our room committees:

Religious Oppression of Women (Interfaith Alliance)
Stereotypes (The Black Student Union)
Body Image (Students Offering Support)
Eating Disorders (W.I.L.D: Women in Leadership Development)
Homelessness (Habitat for Humanity)
Bullying (Allies: Gay+Straight Student Alliance)
Language Oppression (M.C.A.O.: Multicultural Awareness Organization)
Verbal Oppression (Underground Poets Society)
Light at the End of the Tunnel (Bunting Center for Engaged Study and Community Action)

Partners

The 2012 Tunnel of Oppression is sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs; the Bunting Center for Engaged Study and Community Action; the Black Student Union, Allies (Gay+Straight Student Alliance), Interfaith Alliance; Habitat for Humanity; W.I.L.D (Women in Leadership Development); Underground Poets Society; M.C.A.O. (Multicultural Awareness Organization); Counseling and Health Services; Alpha Tau Omega (ATO); SOS (Students Offering Support) and the Student Government Association.

Questions

For more information, please contact Colin Hills, Student Coordinator, at bsctunnel@bsc.edu or Erica Brown, Director of Multicultural Affairs at 205-226-4733 or ebrown@bsc.edu.