Subject: Message Regarding an Incident of Intolerance
Date: Mon, 1 Nov 2004 07:23 AM
From: Jeanne Noda <jeanne_noda@hmc.edu>

From Pitzer's Dean of Students:

Over the past several weeks a Pitzer student has developed and coordinated a project acalled "Chalk the Walk." In an attempt to promote creativity by students, buckets of chalk were placed around the walkways on campus, along with written guidelines regarding content and location of "chalk art." These "rules" stated that:

• Chalk art must be suitable for public viewing by all ages.
• Chalk art should be of a non-offensive nature, free of profanity, discrimination, hate or personal attacks.
• Chalk art should remain ON THE WALKWAY ONLY. No chalk art will be permitted on buildings, pillars, on interior or exterior walls of any buildings.
• Use common sense.

On several occasions recently these rules have been violated as people have written profane and offensive comments, and several times they have drawn on the pillars. The grounds and facilities employees have had to clean the pillars and remove the offensive language, which involved both time and money. On Friday evening the student who initiated the project was notified in writing and in-person that the project would be discontinued if others continued to violate the rules.

I am extremely disappointed to report that late Friday night a student discovered the phrase, "and I hate niggers" written on the ground in chalk amidst other writings on a walkway in the Mounds. A group of students and staff alerted Campus Safety and the Claremont Police Department responded as well. The group decided to wash the highly offensive and racist words off the walkway.

This is a deliberate act of hostility and intolerance that is antithetical ot our values as an educational community. There is no place for this type of language or behavior at Pitzer. Anyone having information about this incident please report it immediatelyto a staff or faculty member or to Campus Safety at x72000.