Tunnel of Oppression seeks to inform
Students portrayed different scenarios, including what it is like to be a young Muslim woman in the sexism room pictured here.
photo by Mitchell Hartley
In a joint effort between the Student Leadership Council and Residential Life and Housing, Lee University hosted the fourth Tunnel of Oppression on Friday, Feb. 3.
The event was comprised of two sessions, one beginning at 6 p.m. with a complimentary dinner served before the final session at 8 p.m. The purpose of Tunnel of Oppression is to showcase the various ways different people encounter marginalization due to social categories like class, race, or gender.
Students met in the Rose Lecture Hall in the Education building, where Ben Jones, Area Coordinator for Res Life, greeted those gathered.
“Tonight is about education, not condemnation,” said Jones.
Counseling Center staff were present at the event should any of the scenarios shown impact someone personally.
Students were split up into groups as each was led to a room in the Education building that dealt with issues people worldwide are dealing with such as heterosexism, classism, mental health stigmas, sexism, and racism.
Heather Beal, a residential assistant and psychology major, and her team were in charge of the classism room. This involved planning what their room would look like, in addition to how they would try to educate and challenge people to think critically about classism.
Ben Jones greets those gathered during the first session.
photo by Mitchell Hartley
The classism room depicted four people, each with a different story. Students were asked to place the actors in one of four categories, lower class, working class, middle class, and upper class, based off of the descriptions of each character the actor was portraying.
"Overall, I think the activity was really powerful because it challenged people to look past physical appearances and stereotypes in order to truly get to know a person," said Beal.
Beal said that she loved the opportunity to help make an impact on Lee students.
In the sexism room, a student dressed as a young Muslim woman questioned why she could no longer read the Quran and why she had to sit a part from the rest of her family during her menstrual cycle.
Brian Ericson, sophomore English major at Lee, said he thought the entire event was powerful.
"Each of the rooms was really well done, and the variety of issues covered guaranteed an eye-opening experience for everyone who got to attend," said Ericson. "I was personally moved by the statistics on the number of 'stay-at-home dads' and that, despite the significant number, there's still a stigma attached to it."
Two students questioned gender norms, such as a girl who enjoyed sports and a guy who liked discussing his emotions and good conversation.
The racism room dealt with different racist situations people could find themselves in, like a Hispanic woman being yelled at for taking too long at a cash register and being told she was no one and two girls talking about why one would not date an athlete because he was black.
“We want to ask the question: what does my faith say about these things, and how does it inform my reaction,” Jones said.
New this year was the addition of a hope and advocacy room, a place where students could take a break between “the heaviness of the other rooms and inspire hope,” according to Trey Manor, a Residential Assistant in Medlin Hall.
Students gather in the hope and advocacy room to debrief and take a break from the heavy topics displayed during the Tunnel of Oppression.
photo by Mitchell Hartley
Found in this room were pamphlets telling students how they can get involved in being able to spot and help others through these issues, along with resources that could be found for anyone currently dealing with them.
“We don’t understand because we don’t have the basis for understanding,” said Jimmy Harper, Campus Pastor, to the yellow group in the racism room at the end of the first session.
“If it’s a big deal to somebody we should press to understand,” said Harper. “Just because racism isn’t a problem for you does not mean it isn’t a problem for others.”
