Suspension of chalkings elicits marked reaction by Xiomara Lorenzo News Editor Students mobilized late Thursday night to replicate chalkings that were erased Thursday morning and to respond to President Bennet’s moratorium of the popular form of expression. These chalkings were centered on the themes of race and sexuality. “Complaints of harassment, sexual or racial, in chalked messages are increasing,” Bennet wrote in a campus wide email sent Thursday evening. “Chalking, as practiced, undermines our sense of community and impedes substantive dialogue.” At 11 p.m. students met outside the Campus Center and immediately commenced to write. From the Campus Center, groups dispersed to various locations on campus including McConaughy Dining Hall, Clark, and South College, which houses the President’s office. Many of the new chalkings contain reactions to Bennet’s email. Students present at the gathering asked that their last names be withheld. “Bennet says that chalking is not an academically worthy enterprise and gives the school a bad reputation yet Bennet’s decision is the most non-academic, undemocratic, and thoughtless act I’ve seen here and it slaps in the face everything Wesleyan stands for,” said Joe, one of the students taking part in the chalkings. Many of the messages alluded to the “miner’s canary,” a metaphor Lani Guinier, a professor of law at Harvard University, used during her lecture also held Thursday evening. According to Guinier, the “miner’s canary” symbolizes society’s decision to focus on smaller issues rather than the greater issue at hand. “Chalking is not the problem,” said Elizabeth and Gina, referring to the chalkings as the canary within Guinier’s example. Both students attended the lecture and participated in the evening’s chalkings. According to Bennet, however, chalkings are creating negative dialogue within the University rather than improving communication among students, faculty and administrators. “There are more constructive ways to communicate than chalking,” Bennet wrote. “Wesleyan needs to reconsider the practice of chalking in light of its consequences for campus life.” After speaking with fellow administrators, Bennet concluded to suspend the chalkings until further notice. “Our practice has been to ask administrators to distinguish between hostile messages and other messages, and then scrub away those deemed hostile,” Bennet wrote. “If any chalking occurs during this moratorium, it will be erased.” “It’s clear to me that Bennet believes in this concept of a liberal/democratic sphere in which if we all express our opinions in the same “polite” way, then we can all understand each other and get along or politely disagree,” Gina said. “What Bennet doesn’t understand is that his idea of polite is actually a white male, upper class, academic, heterosexual concept of how one speaks and is heard and for the rest of us to speak in that language is to be silenced.” Within the last week prior to the clean up, a large number of chalkings had occurred. On Tuesday evening, students chalked in light of National Coming Out Day on Oct.11 since the University will not be in session on this date. Those chalkings that remained after the Thursday morning inspection of University sidewalks were mostly advertisements for lectures and upcoming events. If Thursday evening’s chalkings are erased Friday, many students present resolved to chalk again in order to demonstrate against the Administration’s actions. Students present at both Tuesday’s and Thursday’s chalkings expressed a strong desire to not give up in response to the decision to wash away the original chalkings. “I’m out here to protest the erasure of the chalkings and silencing of political views,” said Steph, a student who chalked on both evenings. Reactions by students, faculty, and administrators are expected to be seen within the coming days. Bennet plans to hold discussions with other members of the University to determine the most effective way to expedite and resolve this matter. “I have asked Vice President Judith Brown and Dean Freddye Hill to consult with the faculty, the Student Life Committee and the Wesleyan Student Assembly and advise me on a durable and sustainable policy on campus postings that is consistent with our responsibilities as an academic institution and our objectives as a learning community,” Bennet wrote.

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