Students at Ohio University are crying out for a safe space after finding pro-Donald Trump slogans on the campus “graffiti wall,” a decades-old spot where students are encouraged to express themselves “whatever the message.”
The graffiti, which included the phrases “Trump 2016” and “Build the wall,” has since been painted over, but not before prompting an administrative response from the school. University president Roderick McDavis sent a campus-wide email in response to offending art.
“Words are only temporary; however, their impact can be everlasting,” McDavis wrote in bolded text, and expressed sympathy for those “hurt” by the Trump graffiti. The message also included a rather baffling ‘free speech is good, but…’ formulation, something that has become increasingly common among college administrators responding to similar speech-related incidents:
[T]his wall is a place of free speech and expression; however, the words painted were troubling because they had a very different meaning to some than they may have to others viewing the message or even to those who painted the message.
This is utter nonsense, by the way. Free speech is good, but if some words mean different things to different people, they are “troubling.” This is a test that practically every form of free expression would fail.
McDavis also attended an “emergency meeting” of the Hispanic and Latino Student Union to discuss the troubling words and whether mandated cultural sensitivity courses for incoming freshmen was an appropriate solution, according to Campus Reform.
The university’s student-run newspaper reports that “unnamed” fraternity and sorority members were responsible for the incident. The students will not be punished for their actions, but the university has decided to “amend” a number of events that were scheduled to take place as part of Greek Week, an annual event focused on philanthropy.
This is not the first time a campus has freaked out over some words about Donald Trump. Students at Emory University reported feeling “unsafe” after finding similar pro-Trump messages written in chalk around the Atlanta campus.