Organizers for the second annual TCU Tunnel of Oppression aim to bring awareness about various issues of oppression to more people than the 500 who attended last year, university officials said.

The Tunnel of Oppression, an interactive walkthrough designed to promote awareness of oppression issues from all around the world, will give students the opportunity to see the issues from a new perspective, Moncrief Hall Director Trisha Teig said.

Teig said that the event is sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs as a part of TCU CommUNITY Week.

“The Tunnel of Oppression is an experiential event that highlights different issues of oppression through different forms of expression,” Teig said.

Teig, who is also the chairwoman for the Tunnel of Oppression’s planning committee, said the issues are chosen by student groups who submit a proposal to be able to sponsor a room.

“We basically set up different rooms, kind of like a maze, and each room has a different issue of oppression that is addressed,” she said.

David Cooper, associate director of Housing and Residence Life, said students will be able to learn nine different things in 30 minutes.

Teig said students will see topics ranging from Palestinian oppression to gay rights in the United States.

Oxfam America is sponsoring two rooms, one about war and genocide in the Congo and the other regarding oil mining and its detriment to the workers, she said.

“Students at TCU have put together nine different rooms of groups that are oppressed and how they feel oppressed,” Cooper said.

The goal, Teig and Cooper said, is to reach as many students as possible with the event and to possibly translate the students’ experience into action.

“It is supposed to be an educational experience to create interest and dialogue surrounding different issues of oppression,” Teig said.

Groups sponsoring the event decide on the tone and message of their individual rooms.

Cooper said the experience in some of the rooms will be like watching a scene, while other rooms will be presented like a museum.

Juan Martinez, a junior communication studies major and president of the TCU Gay-Straight Alliance, said the goal of the room is to help students be more aware and open-minded to the things the GSA is planning to do next semester.

“We have the hate crime wall to give students the opportunity to see how hate crimes are still a major impact on society,” he said.

Martinez said that recent events like the passing of Proposition 8, California’s ban on gay marriage, have given rise to programs like the “NOH8” campaign, which the GSA is using in its sponsored room.

TCU Tunnel of Oppression

When: Ongoing through

Thursday from 3-10 p.m.

Where: BLUU Auditorium

The event is open to the public. Students must bring their ID cards to receive credit for attending.