Imagine spending three days without your phone, without the ability to buy food, without being able to shower or change clothes.

This was the experience of Political Science Professor Leitch’s First Term Seminar (FTS), Politics of Housing and Homelessness.

The students, along with their professor, spent three days with only what they could carry on their backs.

They were allowed only a sleeping bag, blanket, pillow, textbooks, and basic toiletries, all of which they had to carry with them at all times.

According to the Gustavus website, “the purpose of the event is to raise awareness of homelessness and learn about hunger issues, and think about what is being done and can be done to end hunger and homelessness in our communities.”

Leitch hopes that students will realize what it’s really like to be homeless: “I want my students to feel humiliated, vulnerable, and embarrassed because I want them to feel the reality in order to be able to understand at a higher level,” he said.

Along with three days of homelessness, students put up handmade cardboard signs across campus with facts about homelessness and those living in poverty to hopefully raised awareness within the community.

“I definitely think putting a face to the statistics that we see is so important… seeing us being homeless is completely different,” First Year, Lydia Kalenze said.

Students were expected to keep up with their studies and activities during this time.

“I think the hardest part that’s different from what I expected is not being able to use technology. Having assignments due and not having my laptop has definitely been a challenge,” Kalenze said.

Christ Chapel remained unlocked for the entirety of the event and participants slept in a pew or on the floor.

Some could attempt to brave the cold and sleep in a cardboard box outside.

There was a fire lit inside a barrel outside the chapel doors to help keep them warm.

They were also forced to eat the scraps of food off the food belt in the caf.

“I definitely was the most concerned about eating off of the food belt.  I was really worried that nobody would leave any food for us,” Kalenze said.

They would come to find many people giving them meals and bags of food.

“People were a lot more generous than I thought they were gonna be… anything, even just saying hi makes us feel better… even just being like that to actual homeless people, anything makes a homeless person’s day better,” First Year, Hailey Campbell, another participant, said.

This is the Leitch’s 17th year doing the sleepout.

“What we do with this sleep out experience is try to expose people to what the community off campus is dealing with, but also recognize that some people from our campus are dealing with these issues as well,” he said.

The students are also learning about housing issues in Minnesota and the U.S.:

“[We learn about] how housing has affected so many people and the rates of homelessness… and the effects and the causes of it,” First Year, Karley Deknikker said.

The class itself studies the social and political aspects of homelessness and provides an in-depth look into homelessness in the United States.

“Originally it was just about homelessness… but society has lots of people and not everybody is homeless.  So we started thinking, what is the relationship between housing policies and homelessness? Politics and homelessness?” Leitch said.  “I think [our FTS] has more content and is more focused on values than other FTS’.”

The three students, participants, all agreed it was an overall great and eye-opening experience.

“For me, being in their shoes and having to deal with the inconveniences of not having a phone, not having a steady source of food and water, that’s been so powerful to see that first hand,” Kalenze said.

“The goal is to have the experience of what it’s like to be homeless and be in the lives of the homeless people, what they experience.  [You realize] how good your life is,” Deknikker said.

“I’m hoping that participants in the sleepout realize that homelessness is a lot different than they imagine it is… We’re recognizing that if we weren’t on a college campus, things would be far different,” Leitch said.

The hope is for the community to realize how big an issue homelessness is, and to recognize the reality that this happens everywhere.