By Emma Maple | Editor-in-chief
On the morning of Thursday, April 13, chalk messages decorating the outside walls and some of the sidewalks surrounding the Seeley G. Mudd Chapel were removed by facilities, at the request of Forrest Buckner, Storm family dean of spiritual life and campus pastor.
The chalk was in association with the activities taking place this past week advocating for a change in Whitworth’s hiring policy. The chalk messages removed from the Chapel included I Corinthians 13:1 which states, “If I have faith and can move mountains and have not love, I am nothing,” drawings of rainbows and a sign stating “you are welcome” in rainbow colors.
Buckner said there were two reasons he requested the chalk be removed. First, he said there is a general policy that chalk isn’t allowed on building walls. He said the facilities’ policy is to remove anything that doesn’t belong on exterior walls unless an organization requested and approved it.
Second, Buckner said that he views the Chapel as a focal point for all students, a place where Christians who have a variety of different opinions can come together in the community. He said having any messages advocating for a specific viewpoint on contentious issues could imply that other perspectives are not welcome in the Chapel.
“The challenge comes when… thoughtful, lovely, wonderful, sincere Christians have different opinions about how we love God and love others in action,” Buckner said.
On one hand, Buckner said he recognizes that there are students who feel that their faith leads them to work to change the hiring policy. On the other hand, Buckner said he also recognizes there are students who “feel like that [changing the policy] is not the way to honor God and love God.”
Buckner believes that the chalk messages would create a place where some students feel as if they are not welcome. “It’s not saying in words, it’s implying, for some students,” he said.
Buckner said the Chapel is working to not choose a “side,” but instead focusing on ensuring people with “different approaches” can come together, feel welcome and worship.
Because of this, Buckner said he wouldn’t feel comfortable having any chalk messages displayed on the Chapel, no matter what the content was.
After the chalk was sprayed off the walls, Buckner said two students came up and asked if they could continue to draw on the sidewalk in front of the Chapel. He said he encouraged them to continue to draw messages if they wanted to, but asked them to not draw on the Chapel or the three to five feet of sidewalk directly in front of the Chapel doors.
“They’re really good chalk artists… and the messages they’re putting out there are some really wonderful things,” he said. “It [removing the chalk] is not about the message. It’s about making sure that every student here feels like they have a place to come… and [it’s] about the walls.”