Tunnel of Oppression returns

By Richard Nieva

While most people normally seek to escape the clutches of oppression, this weekend, the campus community will deliberately submerge itself in them.

The Tunnel of Oppression is a tour of the Williman Room and parlors in Benson Memorial Center aimed at building empathy through experience.

Black curtains provide maze-like walls that take a viewer through exhibits displaying different forms of oppression. For example, there are sections of the tunnel made to look like a mock dorm room or bathroom mirror with negative depictions of body image.

The event is a collaborative effort sponsored by more than 15 clubs, student organizations and administrative offices including the Multicultural Center, Campus Ministry, Every Two Minutes, Feminists United, Santa Clara Community Action Program, The Santa Clara and more. It runs from today until Sunday, March 1.

Though the event is titled Tunnel of Oppression, organizers stressed they wanted to inspire positivity, which is why viewers are immediately taken to the Tunnel of Hope afterward in the Benson Parlors.

"I want people to come out of this feeling more unified," said senior Jennifer Jaber, one of the head organizers.

"I think it is an expression of solidarity where we are all empathetic to one another, where we say, 'Your pain has become my pain and your challenges have become my challenges.'"

Along with Jaber, seniors Mariana Barba, Kendra Garcia and Paige Summers are organizing the event this year.

Garcia echoed Jaber's message of empathy, hoping viewers could understand that their fellow students may face all kinds of stigmas every day.

For her, it is a way for students to try to understand the plight of minorities and the reality of hate crimes for those who otherwise would not have to deal with it.

Organizers also wanted to convey the unfortunate vastness of oppression.

"If you really look back in your history, you've been discriminated against, in some form or another," Garcia said.

A focal point of the tunnel is bringing to light different forms of discrimination, not just those regularly covered in the media like racism or sexism, Barba said.

She described the notion of layers within a person's identity -- the layer of being a minority, the layer of being a woman.

The organizers said they were moved to help plan this year's event after going through the tunnel last year.

Though the tunnel is a national college event, last year marked its inaugural run at Santa Clara. Organizers said they wanted to sign up as soon as they finished walking through the event.

Planning started during the second week of school last September, Garcia said. They wanted to capitalize on the success of last year's event and inject freshness into it for the new year.

This exhibit has been enhance with a display of anonymous stories, giving students a chance to share their experiences of oppression.

All want the event to leave an impression on viewers. "I hope people that go through it don't just think of it as another multicultural event," said Barba. "I hope people take time to actually think about how they respond to people who face these different types of oppression."

The event will run today and tomorrow from 12 to 6 p.m., Saturday from 12 to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Contact Richard Nieva at (408) 554-4546 or rnieva@scu.edu.