Ben Smidt

The eighth annual Tunnel of Oppression that took place last Wednesday and Thursday was a success, said senior Laura van Zandt, president of Making Our School An Intercultural Community.

“I was really impressed with how everything worked out,” she said.

The tunnel, sponsored by MOSAIC, was intended to raise awareness and educate students about different kinds of oppression.

This year’s tunnel was moved to Council Fire Room in Davies Center from Towers Hall to allow for more room, van Zandt said.

Faculty, staff and students were escorted through various rooms showing a variety of oppressive situations, including governmental and religious oppression.

While some rooms are repeated each year, the organization tries to add new rooms, said MOSAIC member senior Dusty Huebner.

“We try to change the tunnel every year so people have a reason to come back,” he said.

A new addition to this year’s tunnel was the sexual orientation room that featured a “Straight Pride Rally.”

Freshman Jennifer Robles said the rally was very powerful because it put her in the minority.

“It gave me a little bit of the feeling that a homosexual person in the minority might have daily,” Robles said.

She said she felt that the domestic violence room also was powerful.

“The domestic violence one really stuck with me because I was seeing it happen,” she said, “even if it was not real.”

Following the tunnel, participants attended a debriefing meeting with peer counselors.

Freshman Leroy Westrich, a peer counselor, said he felt that the debriefing time was valuable in order to talk about what they had just experienced.

“It’s important to make people aware of what is going on,” he said.

Van Zandt said about 500 people attended the event, and that she believes the tunnel had the impact they hoped it would have on students.

“I think it’s really easy for us to get stuck in our college bubble,” she said. “It is a really good eye-opener for people.”

The Tunnel of Oppression is made possible by MOSAIC, a student organization that deals with issues at all levels of diversity.

This year MOSAIC worked with Peer Tutors and Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Straight Alliance to enhance the experience for visitors.