By Kimberly Powers
Last week, University of Louisville students camped out in thefree speech zone in front of the Student Activities Center for thesecond year in a row.
According to Citizens Standing Against War member Mateo Bernal,this year’s Tent City had about five times as many campersand was, generally, far more expansive than last year’s.
“Last year it [Tent City] was reactive; we had to dosomething and we were desperately trying to find something to do toprotest the war,” Bernal said. “This year it wasproactive. That’s why we had workshops from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.every day.”
Tent City was focused on providing students with alternative,out-of-class education on issues that aren’t often covered inthe media or within classrooms. “It truly was an opportunityfor people to get out their viewpoints,” Bernal said.”We tried to address issues that aren’t widely talkedabout.”
With sponsors ranging from the U of L Student Activities Boardto Amnesty International, Tent City was able to offer more than 30workshops on several different topics. These topics varied from apresentation on the benefits of vegetarianism given by JenniferRubenstein from Earth Save to a lecture given by U of L Philosophyprofessor David Owen on white privilege. According to JenniferOlliges, another event organizer affiliated with C-SAW, at least 15students were at each workshop.
In addition to providing an out-of-class educationalopportunity, Tent City also offered entertainment in the form ofnightly musical performances and film screenings. Even the filmsscreened at Tent City were an alternative to blockbuster films andprovided information on topics like the 2000 election and the 1999World Trade Organization protest in Seattle, Wash.
C-SAW began planning events for Tent City in January. Since lastyear’s Tent City went off without any hitches, Bernal saidthat the U of L administration was pretty supportive of thisyear’s event. “It’s not a difficult argument tomake to the administration to have an on-campus event thatencourages free thinking and education outside of theclassroom,” he said.
Bernal and Olliges both stated that they hope Tent City willbecome an annual university event to promote alternative educationand discussion on campus, though both also mentioned that theywould not be involved in the organization next year.
