Halloween is just around the corner, and that means it’s time to celebrate all things spooky and scary. But there are some horrors that persist outside of the holiday, and the diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging committee at EIU aren’t afraid to remind everyone just what they are. 

On Friday evening, the committee held the Tunnel of Oppression, an event that takes place every fall to spread awareness of issues regarding social justice and identity. 

“I would love for students to learn that every day, somewhere, someone is facing some sort of oppression,” said Arielle Kindred, chair of the DEIB committee. “I want to shed some light on a few of those interactively in the best way possible.” 

This year’s event took place on the third floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union instead of the usual residence hall. Each room had its own activity based around a specific topic. 

Snacks and drinks were laid out as well as a table with stickers and a sand-making activity themed around diversity, where students would drop sand into bottles and mix with colors, each color standing in for different things. For example, red represented race and green represented religion. 

As for the rooms themselves, the first room had posters on all the walls with encouraging messages written on them. The room was completely dark, but the messages were illuminated with UV lights and accompanied by relaxing music. 

After a couple of minutes of viewing the writings, the attending students sat in a circle and discussed mental health. This was followed by them writing what had been stressing them on a poster labeled, “I’m letting go of…” 

The second room, referred to as the Intersectionality Room, focused on students learning about their backgrounds, and how similar or different they are.  

The third room, the Ability Room, challenged students to complete a writing prompt without use of things such as sight or hearing. 

The LGBTQIA+ Room had students take a piece of tape, write a negative word they’ve been called, put it on their chest and explain why that word doesn’t define them.  

The Race Room challenged stereotypes by listing occupations and having students write down what that person’s ethnicity or race might be, followed by a discussion on why they chose the person they did and if it is wrong to define them as that.  

The final room was a debriefing and processing room where students could give feedback about the event either verbally or through writing. 

Students generally enjoyed the event, often citing the first room as their favorite and liked being able to share or take in the struggles of others like them. One such student was Ben Palin, who, after seeing the event being advertised, decided to attend. 

“First, I thought it was the oppression of all the other supernatural events, but now I realize it’s the oppression of the mind and how it sort of becomes our greatest ally but also our greatest hinderance,” said Palin. 

The DEIB committee hopes that this not only helps students voice their problems, but also allows EIU staff to better improve their experience at the university.