On Thursday, students were given the opportunity to experience the Tunnel of Oppression.

The event took place on the second floor of Driscoll North, behind Jazzman’s Cafe.

The Tunnel of Oppression showed students different scenes of oppression and discrimination being acted out by students.

One scene showed a situation where a group of students were complaining about immigration while a Latin-American student looked on. When he finally spoke up and asked the students how could anyone be opposed to immigrants coming in, taking the jobs no one wants, and getting paid very little for them, the students made fun of him for being Mexican.

A second scene showed a man who was looking for his partner in a hospital but was not allowed to see him because he was part of a homosexual couple. The scene also showed what the world would be like if being homosexual was considered to be the norm.

The scene showed students who are not gay just how hard it can be for homosexuals to come out of the closet. It also demonstrated the tough spot gays are put in when their friends of the same sex find out that they are gay.

A third scene showed how women of different backgrounds are being oppressed. There were two women who were prostitutes, two women who worked for companies and were well-off, and one woman who was not considered wealthy – all of whom felt and said of each other, “at least I’m not like them.”

Afterwards the students were brought into a room where they could discuss what they had seen on the tour and give their thoughts on oppression and discrimination here at the University of Denver and across the country.

The scenes played out for students in the Tunnel of Oppression are relevant to and occur in today’s society. Students who are not minorities or come from wealthy families and may not understand the difficulties many people face everyday.

The Tunnel of Oppression highlighted the difficulties that millions of Americans encounter and gave many students the chance to understand what oppression is.

The event was sponsored by the Latino Student Alliance, the Queer-Straight Alliance, the Muslim Student Alliance, the Undergraduate Women’s Council, Student Life and the All Undergraduate Student Association.