Spring Break
Wall of oppression to tear down hate
Jennifer Brown / Staff Reporter
Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: News
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"Writing on the Wall" was presented this year by the Residence Hall Association to raise awareness about diversity on college campuses.
The wall will be constructed at 2 p.m. today with the assistance of the EIU Construction Club.
The wall will stand between the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union and the Library Quad.
Eastern students painted the blocks with words they found offensive and oppressive on Wednesday and Thursday.
They painted 200 cinder blocks over during two-day period.
"These bricks represent the barriers between EIU students," said Karla Browning, programming and diversity coordinator of the RHA. "Students could stop and paint the bricks with words that have hurt them."
Words of hurt and oppression were painted on these bricks, such as "retarded" and "loser," Browning said.
These bricks will be used to construct a 4-foot high, 44-foot long wall.
Until the wall is constructed, the blocks will be stored in Doudna Fine Arts Center.
The event is expected to raise understanding for one another at Eastern.
Once the wall is built, it will stand until 12:15 p.m. Thursday. At that time, students will come together and bring down the wall.
"We really want everyone to come out and help us tear down all these words of hate," Browning said.
Browning was one of two Eastern students who attended a conference where the "Writing on the Wall" program was presented to university students.
"The University of Florida and Utah had done this before," Browning said. "I have taken what they have done and made it fit the EIU community."
This event is not to raise money, she said, but rather to raise awareness.
RHA's main goal for this event was to build a wall that represented oppressions toward students.
Home Depot, masons on campus and the EIU Construction Club contributed the supplies and labor for the wall.
"By coming together to paint these bricks and tear down the wall, we are coming together to realize that these barriers between us are bad," Browning said.
Jennifer Brown can be reached at 581-7942 or at jebrown2@eiu.edu.
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