Emory University erupts after someone writes 'Trump 2016' in chalk on campus

(Image credit: Twitter/@bluestein)

published 23 March 2016

Tuesday evening's hullabaloo centered around an incident at Georgia's Emory University, in which someone wrote "Trump 2016" in chalk all over the college campus. The ensuing panic among students became the subject of ridicule by everyone from Gawker ("these kids are extreme weenie babies") to New York ("College can be a stressful period").

Emory University President James Wagner was further mocked after he promised to review security footage in order to catch the Trump-supporting chalk-vandal. "Your 'unexpected' chalker is engaging in a political debate that will continue through the first Tuesday in November. It is an important and necessary debate. Deal with it, or get thee to a monastery," the Atlanta Journal Constitution jeered.

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Libertarian writer Jeffrey Tucker was present on campus earlier this week, when the messages first appeared. He told me that I was wrong to mock legitimate criticisms of the "Trump 2016" scrawlings, which he characterized as vandalism of private property. The campus is a fairly apolitical place and the Trump messages were widely perceived as racial intimidation against the campus's significant minority population — not mere political advocacy — according to Tucker."It was like cross burning," Tucker told me. "It was on private property. It was extremely damaging and the students and faculty were totally embarrassed... it was absolutely intended to intimidate everyone and it worked." [Reason.com]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.