By Caitlin Conley
The Hunger and Homelessness Action Team of Tulane held a sleep out
Saturday on the Lavin-Bernick Center quad. Thirty students slept in
boxes, listened to homeless advocate speakers and worked to raise
awareness about homelessness in New Orleans.
“It gives you taste of what people go through — emotionally and
physically — when they sleep outside at night,” sophomore Gillian
Schwert said. “It helped raise awareness because some students are
really very sheltered.”
HATT members salvaged boxes from all over
the city. Some members went to Wal-Mart at 5:30 a.m, when boxes were
thrown in the dumpsters. Others got boxes from Bruff and Whole Foods.
Participants spent the night trying to sleep and answering questions
from other students.
“Some students wanted to talk and debate,” HATT president Sally Higgins said. “People were definitely interested.”
Participants also had to deal with a steady stream of students returning from their nights out.
“There were a few opinionated drunks, but that’s to be expected,”
Higgins said. “It’s a mixed blessing. They had very strong opinions,
but they were also interfering with the structures themselves and
prodding the boxes.”
Some students felt the demonstration was misguided and questioned the goals of the event.
“I think it was kind of silly,” sophomore Ryan Judd said. “I don’t see how that event does anything for the homeless cause.”
Other students were far more direct.
“Some people were knocking on boxes saying ‘What are you doing? Homeless people should just get jobs at McDonald’s,’” HATT vice president Samantha Cook said.
HATT also invited two speakers to talk with students and participants. Catch Patton, Community Involvement Manager at UNITY,
a homeless rights group, spoke about the realties of being homeless in
New Orleans. Loretta Kimmick, chef at New Orleans Mission and a former
homeless person, talked about the perceptions, stereotypes and
realities of homelessness.
“Our speakers were really strong,” Schwert said. “I think they really got people connected.”
Cook said that the event highlighted the need to raise awareness on campus about homelessness.
“Campus really isn’t aware of homelessness,” Cook said. “The incidents on Saturday highlighted that.”
Senior Amy Brown said she agreed.
“I think that’s exactly why they needed to do it,” Brown said. “Lots
of kids have money, and they never see homelessness. And besides, it’s
only one night.”
