“No rights are more highly regarded at the University of Georgia than the first amendment guarantees of freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and the right to assemble peaceably.”
–UGA Policy on Freedom of Expression
What does it say about our culture when the administration claims to be committed to free expression, and then prohibits sidewalk chalk--a effective, commonly-used form of campus expression? What does it say when the student body of a college accepts such a prohibition without protest? These were the questions circling in the minds of many students after Student Activities instituted a campus-wide prohibition on sidewalk chalk by edict.
We decided that the best way to express our unhappiness with the sidewalk chalk prohibition was to engage in a traditional form in campus expression: We decided to chalk up the campus.
Since Student Activities instituted the chalk ban on November 10th, we have chalked the campus several times. The administration has not tried to fine us for our transgressions.
And, there won’t be any fines because, despite what the administration claims, there is no policy in the student handbook regarding sidewalk chalk. Rather, administrators claim that the use of sidewalk chalk violates a policy on defacing University property.
Their claim is ridiculous. Sidewalk chalk doesn’t deface property. It washes away with rain and foot traffic. In fact, in a case called Mackinney v. Nielsen, a federal appeals court ruled on this very issue--whether sidewalk chalk could deface property--and stated that “No reasonable person could think that writing with chalk would damage a sidewalk.”
Aside from the sidewalk chalk issue, the University has many policies that contradict claims that it regards First Amendment freedoms highly (for starters, the words “First Amendment” appear in lower-case letters in the UGA Free Expression Policy). The University has imposed the most stringent rules it can possibly apply under the US Constitution to regulate the Tate Center Plaza. If you wish to demonstrate somewhere besides the Tate Center, you have to register the event 48 hours in advance with Student Activities. Most salient of all these policies however, is the unwritten rule that by writing this column and disagreeing with the administration, several administrators will probably stop speaking with me.
University officials continue to claim that eliminating expression in the form of sidewalk chalk still leaves other forms of speech open. However, this is not true. In order to post flyers, bus cards, or banners, one has to be expressing herself on behalf of an official University student organization. One cannot organize a University organization without administrative approval of a ten-student membership list, bylaws and a constitution.
Furthermore, even after one satisfies the requirements to create a group, these means of expression are subject to administrative censorship: In 1998, arguing that college students weren’t adult enough to read a naughty word, Student Affairs refused to allow a flyer to be posted that contained the word “pissed.”
Aside from these issues, why does our administration feel the need to clean the chalk from the campus? Why can it not stay until washed away by the elements as a symbol that we are thinking and expressing ourselves? I imagine that our campus could be more beautiful with sidewalk chalk, with creative art that would only last for days, with political thoughts of individuals and groups alike. .
So, I encourage you to express yourself by chalking the sidewalks. Chaking the sidewalk is a legitimate and traditional method for expression on college campuses.