(U-WIRE) BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Never before have such a large group of people on campus gained so much attention by making so little noise.

More than 1,300 students participated in the Silent Solidarity program Tuesday, sponsored by the Office of Residence Life. The program, in its fourth year, began as a Kohl Hall event and spread campuswide for the first time this year.

The program aims to raise awareness of those who lose their voices in society as a result of prejudice, ignorance and discrimination. Participants were given one of 117 titles — including Muslim, homeless, hearing impaired, atheist and others that typically may not be considered oppressed, like cheerleaders. Participants could not speak until 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Facilitation sessions at three on-campus locations were offered Tuesday night for students to discuss what they gleaned from the program.

Not being heard for a few hours gives students a taste of the challenges others face every day, according to Brian Bickley, senior and coordinator of the program.

"Not talking puts the participant as a minority," he said. "It gives them a handicap ... and you make them have something that challenges them."

Masquerading as an individual that is often misunderstood and stereotyped in society, participants represented the likes of those people who are on campus, Bickley said.

And for senior and first-time program participant Amanda Jones, this proved to be true. Jones, who works in the Office of Residence Life, was initially skeptical about the impact of the program, but soon changed her mind.

"It's very representative to the fact that their voice is taken away," she said. "It's much more representative (of the student body) than I thought it was going to be."

Participants were met with a variety of responses — some more supportive than others — from fellow students. It was those responses reflecting ignorance of the purpose of the program that students found most disheartening, said Heath Huber, community educator at the Women's Center and facilitator of one of Tuesday night's sessions.

— Kara Hull

"What I found interesting about it is not so much of not being able to talk, but what seemed to affect the students the most were the reactions they would get from other people," he said. "From what I got from students, (some) thought what they were doing was silly. They didn't seem to take them seriously ... and that was frustrating for them."

But meeting with such frustrations just means that there's more work to be done on campus battling stereotypes and ignorance on these issues, said Sarah Conway, senior and participant.

"Most initial reactions (I received) were positive, but I did get those that were negative," she said. "But that's why we have this program."