On Wednesday, April 15, a new student-led organization held “Barricade of Boxes.” I attended expecting students and faculty to be rallying for the homeless and trying to raise money  from students living like the homeless. However, I was startled to see how students were really volunteering their time.

Some students had made their boxes into homeless condos. Several students took various boxes and taped them together to make it look like a fort or a house. They also decorated their boxes with spray paint and markers. Some of the boxes had homeless statistics, but some had written that a certain fraternity loved the Alpha Phi’s and how they were the “boss.” I mean, I’m sure  homeless people have box-decorating contests to see whose fort is better.

I was appalled to see  a group of students had their friends bring them pizza.  Do homeless people order pizza? I don’t think so, but I could be wrong.

There was a flash of light with laughter and I looked over in time to see three girls cuddling in a box taking pictures of themselves. Homeless teens can’t afford digital cameras, and if they had one, I’m sure they would sacrifice it to feed their families. It made me so angry that people weren’t taking this as seriously as I had hoped.

Some guys even joked about sleeping in the same boxes as girls. Could we be any more immature?

I later found out there would be speakers indoors, followed by a movie, “The Pursuit of Happiness.” So when you are supposed to sleep out for the homeless from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., it is OK to spend three of those hours indoors to listen to people talk and watch movies? I don’t think so. If you are going to commit yourself to something, you need to really commit to it. Don’t do things half-heartedly. It is a joke and if I were homeless, I would be offended.

Don’t get me wrong. The two girls that put the event together, Erin Carlisle and Emily King, had good hearts and tried to make the best out of it. This was their attempt to create a new organization on campus called Student United Way. For being a first event for an aspiring organization, they did a good job; students just took advantage of this event. 

The icing on the cake was finding out some students were sleeping in tents. Homeless awareness is raised by sleeping in tents? What Einsteins thought of this? Those would be the Phi Beta Sigmas.

“We just decided to sleep in tents, they (Student United Way) decide to sleep in boxes, Reuben Otero, Phi Beta Sigma member, said. “Not every homeless person sleeps in a cardboard box.”

I think the whole thing was a half-ass way to do things. Why not take a group of students and volunteer your time working with the homeless in a shelter or in a soup kitchen? I think they would appreciate that more than students being aware they exist. Newsflash! There are homeless people. I don’t think this is new news.

I hope student organizations learn their lesson and stop sleeping out for the homeless. Instead, spend time with a homeless person for 12 hours and see what their life is like if you want to be more aware. Raise money for a homeless person or shelter. Volunteer to help build homes for homeless people.  Please, I beg you, do something better than sleeping out for the homeless next year.

Nikki Fouch
Editor
bnfouch@ius.edu