Chalk messages initiate policy discussion at SGA, university level

By Tatum Dean, Ally Krupinsky and Rachel Newville

Though it has since rained, the recent spike in chalk messages around campus didn’t go unnoticed by USD students and faculty.

Initially sparked by messages from the “Yotes for Life” group, USD students began marking up campus sidewalks with their own messages in retaliation, some of which included obscene messages.

Fifth-year senior Katelyn Troastle was one student who was particularly disturbed by the Yotes for Life messages.

“It was offending a lot of people,” she said.

Troastle said she saw several angry posts and debates on the anonymous social media app Yik Yak, in addition to hearing complaints directly from students.

“They were putting things down like ‘peace begins in the womb’ and ‘love them both,’ messages that insinuate that if you get an abortion you don’t love yourself or you don’t love your partner or you’re less of a person for supporting women’s rights,” she said.

Troastle said she heard from a friend that serves as a residence assistant that Yotes for Life was also hanging unapproved posters up in residence halls.

Email requests for an interview with Kim Weiland, the Yotes for Life president, were not returned.

Though Troastle said she doesn’t want chalking to be banned, she also doesn’t want to see what she views as offensive messages “casually chalked” on the sidewalk.

Troastle spoke to the Student Government Association during their Oct. 20 meeting about the issue.

“My goal with reaching out to SGA was in hopes that they would talk to Yotes for Life, and I feel like if they sat down and talked to Yotes for Life as SGA and the authority that that role dictates, that Yotes for Life would understand and take it down a notch, maybe,” she said.

After Troastle finished speaking, the Senate had a discussion about what should be done about the chalking.

Senator Chelsea Gilbertson suggested making a “free speech area” on campus where people or organizations could chalk about controversial issues, and leave the rest of campus clean or for the use of student organization advertising.

All Senate members agreed that chalking shouldn’t be banned completely.

Though no final decision was made, SGA agreed to talk with the Yotes for Life president first, as it was the organization’s messages that intially started the chalking craze.

A meeting has not yet been scheduled, SGA President Sami Zoss said in an email.

Chalking was briefly mentioned at SGA’s Oct. 27 meeting, but was not extensively discussed.

Kyle Schoenfelder, the Muenster University Center director, said he’s never seen this amount of chalking on campus before. Schoenfelder is working with Kim Grieve, vice president of Student Services and dean of students, and faculty to draft a policy outlining campus chalking regulations.

There are no current restrictions on where or what students can chalk on campus sidewalks, Schoenfelder said. He declined to comment on what type of policy is being discussed.

“It’s in the drafting stage right now,” he said. “We don’t have a hard date in mind for when it will be effective, but I would say spring semester.”