Pace Paw Print

At last fall's National Conference on Student Leadership (NCSL), Pace's Tunnel of Oppression came in third place out of 133 competing universities for the Trendsetter's Award for Excellence in Programming.

The award looked for colleges who took "ownership of an outrageously successful program, event, or idea," according to the NCSL website. The Tunnel of Oppression, sponsored by student organizations such as Black Student Union, The Organization of Latin American Students and Freedom Through Knowledge, was meant to illustrate awareness of world wide discrimination through visual representation.

Pace followed behind Albright College who came in second place for their Leaf Lifters/Snow Stoppers program, where students raked leaves or shoveled snow for people in their community who were physically unable to do so. Southern Connecticut State University came in first place for Hip-Hop: The History of Hype, a program that examined how hip-hop influences society through lecture and showcases of different hip-hop styles. The winners were announced at the NCSL last November in Orlando, Florida.

The Tunnel of Oppression last ran on Nov. 13-15 in Gottesman. Volunteers transformed the room into a darkened space with discriminatory words spray painted on the walls. As guests walked through the passages and past the corners, they witnessed acted out scenes of different types of oppression, including homophobia, Islam phobia, ableism (discrimination against the disabled), racism, domestic violence, child abuse, hazing, rape, body image and suicide.

Monique Atherley, a senior political science major and Spanish minor, played a key role in bringing the Tunnel to Pace, though, according to her, John Agnelli, Director of Student Activities ran the program before it came to Pace.

"John Agnelli ran [the Tunnel] when he was at SUNY New Paltz," she said.

Atherly said she first witnessed the program for herself in Nov. 2006, when SDCA sponsored a trip to view the Tunnel at New Paltz.

"From there I became entranced with the program, its messages, its purpose, and its potential to break barriers and re-build hope."

Atherly started the Tunnel of Oppression at Pace in spring 2007.

Atherly said a volunteer from the Tunnel, Lizardo Uribe, entered the program in the contest.

"I was thoroughly surprised that we did win …," she said. "…we are fairly new to the Tunnel game. Many other universities have run this program on campus for years, but ours was exceedingly successful our first time out."

Despite the program's recent success, Atherly said the Tunnel of Oppression will continue to be held on a semestral basis due to the preparation, training, and collaboration involving several different departments. However, she did say that winning the Trendsetter Award has given the Tunnel increased credibility.

"It [The Trendsetter Award] has given the Tunnel more weight as a legitimately impactful program to the university as a whole."

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