ETSU’s Student Government Association Senate passed a resolution Tuesday to turn the SGA office window located in the D.P. Culp University Center into an area where students can show school pride and spirit by writing on the glass with dry erase markers.
Students interested in writing on the glass will either be supplied markers or will be allowed to use their own.
“Looking back at the pride rock, I think there is a lot of interest and support for open creativity,” said Sen. Nathan Farnor.
The senate discussed the idea at length before taking a vote.
“I think there is a huge lack of school spirit here,” said Sen. Jessica Martin. “There’s concern that this will look sloppy, and really, any kind of school spirit is going to look sloppy.”
Martin, who originally worked on the idea, spoke to roughly 50 students about turning the glass wall into a spirit wall.
She said many students were on board with the idea.
“One of the reasons I brought up the SGA glass is because it costs no money,” Martin said. “We could get a glass wall or a chalkboard, but that costs money. The glass is already there.”
Sen. Brandon Johnson was in opposition of using the office glass and recommended an alternative wall or surface.
“I just think that having it so closely intertwined with SGA can cause a problem,” Johnson said. “I would be in support of putting up a white board or glass so people could draw Bucky on it or advertise for their clubs.”
Toward the end of discussion, the senate addressed the challenge of censorship. The wall will be an area of free speech for students, so while vulgar and inappropriate material is discouraged, students are allowed to write or draw almost anything on the surface.
The senate felt concerned that an area which is supposed to represent students could turn into a forum for hate speech, and due to the concerns brought about during the discussion, there is a possibility the resolution will be amended.
“We need to continue the discussion to give students the opportunity for expression,” Farnor said.
