The transfer student housing residential advisor, RA, team had been working on Tunnel of Oppression, a social justice program that oppresses people to help them relate to marginalized groups. RA Steven Kennedy did not agree with the methods used in the program and wanted to find a way to teach social justice without forcing opinions on residents. The topic of gender roles, power, and equality came up when two of Steven's friends, a self proclaimed feminist and a seemingly chauvinistic male, were arguing about perceived gender power and dominance. The title, "Make me a Sandwich", came from a Battle of the Sexes high school pep- rally; where men proceeded to chant "make me a sandwich" while women chanted "make our money," further perpetuating gender roles.

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Residents walked around to posters and videos explaining gender issues. At each station, they collected a piece of their sandwich after learning the concept. They started at the first slice of bread, near a "Starting from Scratch" poster, where they were asked to write ways they believed men and women differed. At "Bringing Home the Bacon", residents got their meat as they learned about gender roles from the past to today. This included the original hunter-gatherer system, to the mid-1900’s breadwinner-homemaker, and to today’s dual- breadwinner dynamic. A “Food for Thought” bubble brought up an issue of women not being comfortable with stay-at-home dads. Then they got their cheese, at "That's Jacked", while learning about job and pay disparity statistics. Statistics proved that at lower paid and part- time jobs women were actually paid more as “Food for Thought”. Lettuce was given at the "What's Wrong With Green" area; here they learned about the lack of psychological differences between men and women. This point was made through posters and videos for the example of blue or pink as baby colors, and how prior to the 1940’s it was actually opposite. The corresponding “Food for Thought” was a “Nature” magazine article proving men and women used different parts of the brain for the same stimuli. Next was "Tomato/Tomoto What’s the Difference", where were they got tomatoes and saw biological similarities and differences. While it appeared similarities outnumbered differences, there was a “Food for Thought” example about “attractive” women not getting the same respect as women who were not as attractive. They got pickles, "Putting Salt in the Wound", when they learned about non- inclusive languages and how it affects women. This included a “Food for Thought” section on how non-inclusive language affects men. Finally they completed their sandwich at the second bread station, "What Holds Us Together", which asked them a way to create a more equal environment for both men and women.

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Most social justice programs educate participants by making them feel outcast for not being able to relate to the marginalized group. Social justice programs tend to have a list of facts they expect participants to know by the end of the program, that proves one side of the issue. This program, however, stepped back from a one-sided view of gender oppression, and gave participants perspectives on both sides of the issue. It gave individuals evidence from both sides of the gender oppression debate, and asked them to define "equality" for themselves. The overall goal of the program was to teach residents about gender oppression issues from media, science, and psychology, so they could learn to look at each argument and make an educated decision on equality in future issues.

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In “Make Me a Sandwich” residents learned about gender oppression and equality in a relaxed and fun environment. Evidence was given about the similarities and differences between men and woman in the cases of: biology, psychology, gender roles, and job disparities. Residents were given information from both sides of each argument; so that they could analyze the issues and define gender equality for themselves.The overall goal of the program was to teach residents about gender oppression issues from media, science, and psychology, so they could learn to look at each argument and make an educated decision on equality in future issues.

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Residents really seemed to enjoy the more relaxed approach to social justice. Many residents who had walked into the door and tried to avoid reading posters actually took time reading each poster and watching the videos. Quite a few stated they had never considered a lot of the arguments before. This program took about 10 hours to research and put together, but in the end it felt worth it. The residents appeared to take a lot from it, and actually enjoyed reading the material. While a few people were offended by the title, it helped spread word of the program and attracted residents who have intentionally avoided educational programs in the past. To some individuals the turnout may look low compared to the number of residents in our community, but it was really only geared towards 150. It was also a midterm week, so getting 30 residents was more of a success than it appears.

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This program would be very easy to implement at any school. Sandwich materials are fairly cheap, or groups with bigger budgets can get catering. Subway sandwiches were used for convenience in this program, but were costly. Posters can be made on any material, or fliers and pamphlets would suffice. Depending on the number of participants expected, a laptop could be used for the videos. The room for the program can be any size, although a medium size room gives people enough room to walk around before and after getting their food. Resources necessary for this program are really up to those who plan it. It would be easy to add or get rid of stations, videos, and activities depending on the amount of information, resources, and room a person has at their disposal. It would be easy to do this as an individual RA or organizer, but it is nice having a couple other people during the event to help setup and answer questions.

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