Campus Living and Learning to Host Tunnel of Oppression March 3-4

by Devany Severin, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

The Tunnel of Oppression, an interactive activity designed to educate the Baylor University community about different forms of oppression, will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. on March 3-4 in the Bill Daniel Student Center on Baylor's campus. The tunnel is sponsored by the office of Campus Living and Learning.

The tunnel activity consists of a 50-minute walk-through, where participants are led by a facilitator through a series of rooms. In each room, participants will watch a dramatic re-enactment that depicts some form of oppression. Some rooms will actively involve participants and others will not. At the end of the tour, participants will be led in a group-discussion.

The purpose of the activity is to actively involve participants in the hopes that it will increase understanding and awareness of oppression in American society.

"Most people fail to realize that many people within the Baylor community have faced some form of oppression, but they tend to keep these issues to themselves," said Kelley Kimple, Collins Residence Hall director.

"The tunnel gives participants the opportunity to express their feelings about such issues and share ideas about how they can make changes in their community to keep these problems from persisting."

The tunnel dramas will depict themes including domestic abuse, human trafficking, sexual orientation, racial discrimination, church persecution, Abelism, Darfur and property rights of an African widow.

The tunnel experiment began in 1993 at Western Illinois University and was brought to Baylor in 2005. In the past, approximately 900 people have participated in Baylor's Tunnel of Oppression. This year Campus Living and Learning hopes to see more than 1,000 people participate.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information please contact Kelley Kimple at Kelley_Kimple@baylor.edu