When Satire becomes Politically Correct Policy: DePaul University bans chalk for student safety
In March we posted a political satire column titled “Students demand ‘chalk free zones’ after Trump 2016 graffiti found at Emory U.” The column stated, “Trump ‘chalking attacks’ are appearing on college campuses across America. It began on the campus of Emory University where ‘Trump 2016’, ‘Vote Trump 2016’ and ‘Trump’ graffiti was found on buildings, sidewalks and on benches written in chalk on the university campus.”
We concluded with the tongue-in-cheek, “The Keep Chalk on College Campuses (KCCC) free speech movement in a short statement said, “Chalk U!”
On April 4th we posted a second political satire column titled, “After a #Trump2016 chalk attack on the White House Obama signs Executive Order banning chalk.” The column stated:
Today the Secret Service reported a “#Trump2016 – Make America Great Again” chalk attack occurred at the White House. President Obama, his family and the White House staff were evacuated to a secret location until the chalker and his/her associates are apprehended.
[ … ]
Josh Earnest, Assistant to the President and Press Secretary, at a White House briefing noted:
The first family and those of us working in the White House now live in fear of the chalkers who want to make America great again.
FBI Director James Comey has just briefed President Obama on this growing existential threat.
These attackers are using chalk as their weapon of choice and they must be stopped at all cost.
After meeting with his National Security Council, President Obama has signed an Executive Order making chalking a federal offense and designating members of Make America Great Again Chalkers enemies of the collective.
The Executive Order calls for the arrest of anyone carrying chalk in a concealed manner. It establishes a federal, state and local law enforcement Joint Chalk Task Force (JCTF) to combat this growing threat to our progressive way of life.
Anyone owning chalk must report it and register on a new national database of chalk possessors.
It appears that political satire has become politically correct policy at DePaul University.
On April 15th, Jazz Shaw from HotAir reports:
The struggle is real, my friends. We’ve already looked at the horror being inflicted upon special snowflakes around the country these days as #TheChalkening sends college students scurrying for their safe space. Who knows what sort of lasting damage could ensue if young adults turn a corner on their morning walk only to see a name or campaign slogan emblazoned on the sidewalk where they are walking, enshrined there for all time? (Or at least until the next rainfall.) Not everyone is taking this threat lying down, however. At DePaul University in Chicago, students will soon be able to perambulate around the quad without fear of such lasting mental scar tissue because the university has banned chalking the sidewalks after someone was tasteless enough to write the name of Donald J. Trump on the pavement. (Daily Caller and Campus Reform)
DePaul University will no longer allow students to chalk political messages on the sidewalks of its campus because of the “offensive, hurtful, and divisive” nature of pro-Trump chalking found on campus last week.
“While these chalk messages are part of national agendas in a heated political battle, they appeared on campus at a time of significant racial tension in our country and on college campuses. DePaul is no exception,” Depaul’s vice president for student affairs Eugene Zdziarski wrote in a campus-wide email obtained by Campus Reform…
Campus Reform reached out to DePaul to ask why university officials chose to respond to this particular chalking instance despite claims that chalking “regularly” occurs on campus. No response was received in time for publication.
The entire idea of “chalking” as a form of expression has apparently been a tradition at DePaul for quite some time, just as it is on sidewalks around the nation.
We again quote those who support free chalking speech on college campuses with, “Chalk U!”
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Emory University Students Upset at Pro-Trump Chalk
EDITORS NOTE: The featured image of chalk guns is by artist and designer Mike Falk.
Trending on Twitter sometime soon – virtual pro-Trump chalking of the DePaul sidewalks, buildings, and even the backsides of any Anti-Trump person who makes the news (and thus becomes fair game). Easy to Photoshop and attach any picture on a tweet, so we just need a good hashtag to go with this:
Ideas?
#EatMyChalkDePaul
#WeShallOverChalk
#ChalkDePaulForTrump
#Liberty&Chalk4All
#FuchalkYouDePaul
Anyone else have a better idea for this hashtag??
Michael,
Thanks for reading the column and commenting. Love it that you fighting for free speech at DePaul. #ChalkUDePaul!
Chalk, chalk.
Who’s there?
Trump, Trump.
Where, where?
On the sidewalk.
Where, where?
Emory and DePaul.
Chalk, chalk.
Talk, talk.
That’s all.