Yesterday, members of Social Justice Arts Initiative performed guerilla theater pieces around campus in order to open the eyes of Tufts students to common injustices many often ignore.
Sophomore Julia Gmeiner sat outside the doors of Dewick-MacPhie embodying a young pregnant woman. A sign next to her read, "48.2 percent of youth living on the street have reported ever being pregnant." As she jiggled a cup hoping to earn a few dollars from those passing by, she relayed the story of her character to the Daily.
She was living with her abusive boyfriend, but with the help of a friend, she was finally able to leave him.
"I went from one friend's house to another, but in the end, it just wasn't logistically possible to keep moving, so I started living on the streets," Gmeiner said.
She eventually met another guy and ended up pregnant, and when she told her new beau of his paternity, he left her. Gmeiner's character soon found herself back on the street.
"College students don't understand that it can happen to them; I was just in the wrong situation. I didn't come from a bad family. My parents didn't abuse me. I didn't run away from home. It can happen to anyone," Gmeiner said.
-by Kristin Gorman
