From the sidewalk on Home Avenue to the Public Affairs Center stairway to the pavement near North College, chalking has returned, taking the form of bright designs, limericks, and political statements. According to an Oct. 13 e-mail sent to the campus by Dean of the College Maria Cruz-Saco, several chalkings have included racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic symbols and statements.
“It’s important that the campus respond to these acts,” President Douglas Bennet told The Argus. “There should be more outrage about anti-Semitic remarks and less attention on the precious chalk.”
The University banned chalking three years ago in response to sexually explicit language found on walkways.
“When chalking is discovered it is cleaned away,” said Director of Media Relations David Pesci. “This is not a free service and requires staff time, resources and energy. In fact, over the last three years, we’ve had to spend almost $100,000 to remove chalking.”
Pesci said that those costs are non-recoverable because of the anonymity of chalking.
“As a result the costs are spread to all students,” he said.
On Thursday morning, students across campus woke up to discover large pieces of chalk outside their doors, on their residence floors, and outside all the major administrative buildings. The chalk was arranged overnight by a new secretive group named “The Lightening Society.” According to the society, 1,200 pieces of chalk were distributed around campus, including outside of the President’s house.
“Our intention is to ‘lighten’ the atmosphere at Wesleyan and at the same time effectively stir shit up,” The Lightening Society wrote in an e-mail. “While we do not think that chalking should necessarily be used to chalk radical messages, we do feel that there is a greater need for student expression on campus. We think that a revival of chalking may be the answer. By dropping 1,200 pieces of chalk…we have attempted to empower all those that may wish to use chalking as a means of creative expression, communication, or political discourse.”
The University has reiterated that it has no intention of revising the policy, citing concerns that chalking will be used to single out individual students or particular groups.
“None of us can tolerate a campus with homophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-black slogans,” Bennet said. “It’s nothing fun or elevating or worthy of Wesleyan, so we’re not going to go back to it.”
Cruz-Saco also expressed worry at the potential of chalking to cause harm.
“I’m told that Wesleyan has a tradition of chalking that is invigorated in the month of October following National Coming Out Day,” she said. “I have seen positive and festive chalking, eclectic and puzzling chalking on several campus locations. But, I’m mostly concerned with chalking that targets specific populations and/or individuals in hurtful, disrespectful and inappropriate ways—this type of chalking is obviously unacceptable. I would be interested in knowing how one can pass policy for ‘good’ chalking only.”
The administration maintains that chalking is not a civil form of discourse and exposes the campus community—willing or not—to the whims of often-vulgar chalkers.
“It seems clear that we must satisfy two complementary principles: to protect free expression and at the same time to enhance Wesleyan’s civility,” Bennet wrote in a message announcing the prohibition of chalking to students in 2002. “Returning to the status quo, with threatening, often sexually-explicit chalking on the sidewalks, does not meet the civility test.”
The administration does not consider chalking a necessary component of free speech.
“I would also add that there are numerous other outlets for self-expression here in community space, including Wespeaks in the Argus, the kiosks and several other areas where opinions and displays of self-expression can be displayed, viewed and commented on,” Pesci said.
Still, some students argue that chalking is as legitimate a form of discourse as any other.
“I’ve been chalking ever since I’ve been enrolled in the University, even before freshman year,” said Evan Simko-Bednarski ’07.
Simko-Bednarski, who chalked on Thursday to advertise Take Back The Night, is unconvinced by the University’s justification for the ban.
“For the University to imply that the people who have traditionally used chalking as a means of activism need protection from it is patronizing,” he said. “The ideas and words that Bennet wanted off our sidewalks are ideas and words we will encounter anyway. All the ban has given us are more sterile sidewalks to look at. And perhaps the ability to more strategically plan [prospective student] tours to avoid those ideas.”
He intends to continue chalking, hoping that it will persist after the Class of 2007 graduates.
“For my part, being ’07 and graduating, I certainly don’t want to leave without pressuring the administration to repeal [the ban]. Furthermore, I feel that if chalking can outlast the administration that banned it, it might have a chance,” Simko-Bednarski said. “Nowadays, I just carry a stick or two with me when I walk to class or to my thesis carrel and chalk whenever I feel the need to say something.”
Some students said that chalking was an important factor in their positive first impressions of the University.
“When I came to Wesleyan as a prefrosh, chalking had just been banned but pavement was still covered in chalk,” said Holly Wood ’08. “And I remembered thinking to myself, ‘Wow, the students here are so frikkin’ engaged with each other that they’ll even scribble at each other on the ground.’ But when I actually matriculated, that kind of atmosphere just seemed to vanish. Maybe it was just a naive illusion prefrosh have about college, but I still think chalk will always play into what I see as an ideal Wesleyan.”
This is a sentiment shared by Madeline Weiss ’09.
“In addition to being a satisfactory means of expression, chalking is colorful and helps liven up the appearance of the Wesleyan campus,” Weiss said. “When I saw all the beautiful chalking as a prefrosh about important political messages, it helped solidify my decision that Wesleyan was the school for me.”
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