Chalkings have recently resurfaced on various campus locations. Since the University officially banned chalking in the spring of 2003, it has reemerged in bouts and spates, but has never quite died out, leading many to question the legitimacy of the current use of the term “chalking revolution.” With President Bennet’s legacy of anti-chalking coming to an end, some students are looking to persuade the new administration to take a different stance.
We sincerely appreciate the gesture that students are making in signing a pro-chalking petition. In many ways, chalking embodies so many of the qualities that we have come to value at the University: self-expression, spontaneous creativity, communication, public awareness, and a differentiation from our less audacious fellow institutions. In spirit, it is a beautiful sentiment that we whole-heartedly embrace. Chalking also stands as a continued form of student resistance to an administration that has frequently undermined WSA chalking resolutions. Roth’s arrival is certainly an opportunity for change.
All this feel-good sentiment may be in the spirit of chalking, but the practice itself has a dubious future insofar as University backing is concerned. Unfortunately, chalking seems to be an issue of either complete endorsement or complete interdiction. The notion of posing restrictions on what, why, and where chalking can take place is not only patronizing and silly, but entirely ruins the spontaneity and convenience of the process. Don’t get us wrong, we adore reading randomly chalked haikus on the way to class in the morning. But the possibility that chalking may be carried out irresponsibly – whether expressing discriminatory remarks or defacing campus buildings – is too great to be ignored. The new administration will need to consider both sides of the chalking issue, and a decision either way might not be immediate. In the meantime, money that could instead be used for something worthwhile and necessary (like financial aid) will continue to fund the dousing of campus sidewalks.
For some, there is a sense that current classes have the responsibility of upholding the efforts that past students have so devotedly carried out. But for others, chalking is something of an antiquated form. Between Facebook, MySpace, personal blogs, Wesleying, and the Anonymous Confession Board, students have an increasing number of public outlets for self-expression. To all you responsible chalkers – your energy and spirit is admirable, but might be more effectively applied in a new direction once the petition is submitted to Roth for consideration.
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