This spring, in continuation from previous semesters, the Protect Life chapter at EMU has been writing in sidewalk chalk to spread awareness about their organization.
The Protect Life at EMU organization meets weekly, and when the weather is nice, various members of the club walk around campus and write messages in sidewalk chalk.
Rosa Skrobola, president of EMU’s Protect Life chapter, explained the tradition.
"We say things like ‘protect the rights of the unborn,’ ‘women deserve better than abortions,’ and promote our meetings and resources," Skrobola said. "The purpose of the chalk is to reach people. To let them know the reality of what abortion is: that there is an unborn child, and that child needs to be protected.”
Skrobola shared the mission of EMU’s chapter of Protect Life.
“As a club, we believe that abortion is killing an innocent being, and we want to spread awareness and say, ‘hey, this is the truth,’” Skrobola said.
Despite chalking around campus being a tradition, in the past weeks, EMU students showed their opposition to the club in many ways.
First, people started pouring their water bottles over the chalk in an attempt to wash these messages away.
“I believe people pour water because they have strong reasons for it," Skrobola said. "I believe that pouring water is a sad response because we want to be heard and share our thoughts. Covering it up isn't encouraging conversation on such an important issue. I would like to say to anyone who has poured water on the chalk that we would love to chat with you.”
When a week had gone by, the club had their weekly meeting and added more chalk work to campus. Skrobola reports that these pieces depicted of a “pro-life hopscotch,” with a drawing of a fetus in the final square in front of the Health and Human Services Building, and across campus, the message, “pour water on this if you’re pro-life.”
In reaction to this, students continued pouring their water bottles, smudging the chalk, and taking it a step further by embellishing the designs. Student Sahara Schuett, like many others, bought her own sidewalk chalk.
“I bought the chalk because its discouraging when you walk across campus and see abortion hopscotch and writings in chalk," Schuett said. "The main reason it set me over the edge is that Eastern Michigan is known for being very open to all genders and races and stuff. If I was a high school senior touring campus, I would think that the whole school supported that…if they're going to exercise their freedom to write that, I'm going to exercise my freedom to cross it out.”
In the weeks following, more and more students continued responding in chalk. “Protect the rights of the unborn” had been crossed out and changed to “protect the rights of women,” the hopscotch was retitled, “abortion hopscotch,” and many sites had been crossed out to the point of being unreadable.
This “chalk war” begs the question: what are the policies for sidewalk chalk on campus?
The EMU Student Center Marketing Communication Procedures states, “All advertising material is subject to approval by the Student Center Administration.”
Chalking must be an advertisement for an event that takes place at the Student Center or on campus.
“Prior to the Application of Chalk, Student Organizations must contact the Custodial Department at 487-3684.”
The Custodial Department must receive the name of the organization, contact person’s name and number, and the date of chalking.
- After the chalking is approved, these rules and regulations apply:
- Chalk must be washable
- Apply chalk to approved areas only
- Obscene or derogatory wording or images are not allowed
- Do not apply chalk within ten feet of any building entrance
- Remove chalk one week after event or apply for extension
- Student Organization is responsible for removal of chalk
At the time of the chalking, Skrobola said she was unaware of any of these regulations.
“So as far as I’m aware, because this is a public campus, we are allowed to chalk whatever," Skrobola said. "As a club, I think there's something about not chalking right against the door of a building.”
A student, who chose to stay anonymous, shared their concerned about the timing of these displays.
"The chalk started showing up at the same time that campus tours started," the student said. "I truly think that if I saw that while seeing campus for the first time, I would think twice about coming here.”
Skrobola said that reaching tours was not the club's intention.
"It just happened to coincide with the tours," Skrobola said. "We decided to chalk at that time because the weather had gotten better. However, whether someone is a student or a professor on campus, or a student who wants to come to EMU, we want to reach them with this message that the unborn deserve to be protected from violence in the womb.”
Skrobola concluded her interview by saying the group intends to continue to chalk in future semesters, despite the regulations and opposition.
"Our goal in chalking messages around campus about what abortion is and who the unborn are is basically to spread the truth to share humanity," Skrobola said. "The unborn should be protected because they share in our humanity. The unborn are really deserving of dignity, and abortion is an act of violence and injustice.”
