• The Residence Hall Association is holding the annual Remove the Blindfold exhibit in Mashuda Hall until Friday from 4 to 10 p.m.
• The exhibit has more interactive displays this year than in past years.
• The Mashuda Hall ballroom was chosen to hold the exhibition because the displays could be left there overnight.

The Residence Hall Association is holding its third annual Remove the Blindfold exhibit this week in the Mashuda Hall ballroom. The event, which began on Monday, will be open until Friday.

RHA and the Office of Residence Life coordinated the event, with various student organizations making the exhibit's displays.

Some of this year's displays are interactive. The Darfur display has a mock refugee tent set up that allows students to see what it feels and looks like to live in a refugee camp.

Another interactive display is on the difficulties physically disabled people face each day. Students are challenged to sit in a wheelchair and to try to maneuver in dirt and through a rope path. Students are also encouraged to move from a wheelchair to a sitting chair and back to the wheelchair.

The display also identified places on Marquette's campus that are difficult for physically disabled students and faculty to get around.

"The wheelchair exhibit opens people's eyes to what others have to go through and places people in their shoes," said Nikki Krubsack, the Schroeder Hall director.

Other less active displays include presentations on body images made through the media and the challenges that young undocumented immigrants and uninsured individuals face.

About 15 different student organizations made displays for the exhibit, said Nathan Schultz, a sophomore in the College of Education and RHA executive board liaison to the event.

At the end of the exhibit, students are able to reflect on the displays and write their thoughts on a banner.

"Students come out thinking about what they saw and can share their own story," Krubsack said.

RHA President Brian Pelrine said the purpose of the exhibit is to inform participants about different forms of oppression of which they are not necessarily aware.

"Remove the Blindfold is a excellent way to see the world through the eyes of people who are less fortunate than ourselves," said Pelrine, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Schultz said planning for the exhibition began in early December by RHA representatives and hall directors from each dorm.

Mashuda Hall was chosen to hold the exhibition because of its accessibility, and all the supplies needed for the event were already available there, Schultz said. Mashuda's ballroom also allowed organizers to leave the exhibition up overnight.

Krubsack said about 55 students had been through the exhibit on Monday and Tuesday. Pelrine said 50 attendees visited on Wednesday.

The event will continue today and tomorrow from 4 to 10 p.m.