Throughout my four years at Wesleyan, my always-opinionated mind has waffled on the issue of the chalking ban. It has been a pretty popular topic ever since Day 1 here, and I always thought that both sides (the students/the administration) had a legitimate case to make for their stance. Lately, probably because the weather is getting warmer, the chalk issue has once again become a relatively big debate, with people circulating petitions, writing Wespeaks and just chalking on everything.
The ban has been universally rejected by the student body, but for no clear-cut reasons. Now, personally, I’m all for chalk and always have been. I think that Wesleyan could benefit from colorful (temporary) drawings and writings on the sidewalk… as far as I’m concerned, we should have colored in all the gray bricks in the CFA years ago, make it look like giant 3D live-action Tetris. Or have a four-square court, as someone thankfully pointed out (shit, I’d even be willing to get in on a little hopscotch if the spirit washed over me).
But I realize that most of the dedicated chalkers only use it as a way of supplying shock value. I was walking through the CFA last night to find that someone had astutely written “Pre-cum is sexy.” Is this what all the protesting has been about? Why do we find it necessary to greet prospective students and parents with “Welcome to Wesleyan, where sex happens and we talk about it!?” Why do these students feel the need to act like children, writing infantile potty humor just for shock value? And why is there a friggin’ petition just so these people can continue to do this? Adults talk about sex because it is important to them, because it is significant and meaningful, and they do it maturely. Children, on the other hand, crudely chalk “Anal sex happens” on the sidewalk to make themselves feel significant and—more importantly—to get attention.
Needless to say, no one ever considered the administration’s point of view on this. You know what, not everyone—especially old stuffy rich alumni who are potential donors—wants to read such puerile filth on the sidewalks. Is it OK to talk about sex in the bluntest manner? Yes, it is. But the proper forum for that is NOT the sidewalk that EVERYONE at Wesleyan uses. Chalking poetry, thoughts of the day, drawings and other artwork are all cool beans and should be encouraged by everyone—students, faculty and administrators alike. But most people who walk around Wesleyan and read these chalkings either already KNOW pre-cum is sexy or don’t care to read about it in public space. Personally I fall into both categories.
The chalking issue—Wesleyan’s equivalent to the Civil Rights Movement—is a completely legitimate thing to argue about, but when I see what people do with the chalk once they have it, I cannot help but think that they only want to chalk because they aren’t allowed to; it’s forbidden fruit. Chalking should be fun and beautiful, and should be an outlet for creative expression, not for sexual repression. To borrow and tweak a great line from a great speech, I have a dream that one day future students will be able to go to a school where they will not be judged by the color of their chalk, but rather by the content of their chalking.
A thousand thanks to the Argus staff, particularly the Wespeak people and the editors, who have without fail published everything I wrote for four years despite its unpopularity, and who have provided—and will hopefully continue to provide—a true outlet for expression to those students who need it most.
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