“It’s horrifying that cismen feel so entitled to my time and space,” Toepfer said.
University of Cincinnati students, faculty and staff opened their eyes to a whirlwind of injustice in past and present-day culture as they moved their way through the Tunnel of Oppression in Tangeman University Center Friday.
The interactive exhibit was co-sponsored by the UC Office of Disability Services, Counseling and Psychological Services, Residence Hall Association, Resident Education and Development, Ethnic Programs and Services, the African American Cultural and Resource Center, the Women’s Center and the LGBTQ Center.
Participants moved their way through TUC rooms A, B and C reading and looking at visual interpretations of various types of oppression that exist in society.
Similar interactive programs can be found at other colleges and universities across the U.S. The movement started at Western Illinois University, where the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles served as a template for the first Tunnel of Oppression.
Beginning with discrimination against people with disabilities, gender and sexuality-based oppression, and ending with racial and cultural discrimination, the UC Tunnel of Oppression was designed to introduce participants to the concepts of oppression, privilege and power and to challenge them to think more deeply about related issues.
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