BY KEVIN DIFFILY AND KAYLA URQUHART // NOV. 13, 2012 //

The stereotype of the “broke college student” will reach new heights tonight, when a Curry first-year inquiry group plans to forgo the comforts of beds and bath to get a small taste of homelessness.

Students got comfortable during the 2010 sleep-out, outside the Hafer Academic Building. // COURTESY PHOTO //

Professors Carrie Cokely, Karen Litchinsky and Linda Romano organized the event, which aims to help students put themselves in the shoes of the less fortunate. The inquiry group focuses on social justice and inequality in today’s society, and the sleep-out is an opportunity for students to reflect upon the plights of the homeless. This is the third year that the professors have organized the program.

Students will sleep outside overnight on the Hafer quad. They are allowed to bring only the clothes on their backs and a sleeping bag. The sleep-out begins at 7 p.m. tonight and will end at around 11 tomorrow morning. A small amount of food will be provided, and students will have limited access to restrooms.

In 2011, approximately 16,664 Bay State residents were without a home, according to the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. And the problem affects people of all ages. The U.S. Department of Education reports that nearly 1 million students are homeless in the United States.