The University has provided positive outlets for students who are interested in marketing their events, as well as supporting their candidate of choice in both local and national elections.
Ryan Lindquist, associate director of the Student Activities Center, said the policy allowing students to use chalk on UNM’s malls and walkways has existed for over 15 years. His department is only contacted in cases of potential violations.
Lindquist said his department tries not to edit content. Instances in which chalkings must be removed mainly involve profanity or inappropriate content, although he said these cases are not common. The biggest problem for the department usually involves someone paying to remove spray chalk using a power-washer.
“The only time we are concerned is when someone chalks on a vertical surface or chalks underneath an overhang — something that’s a violation of the policy,” he said.
Willie West, associate director for Environmental Services at the Physical Plant Department, agreed and said, typically, chalking by students is not a problem.
Graffiti, on the other hand, is.
“There is a difference between the chalking and graffiti, of course,” he said. “Chalking is allowed on campus per the student activities policy, but graffiti is not.”
West said PPD does not remove students’ chalkings, instead allowing the weather to take care of the clean-up, as long as there is nothing inappropriate or obscene written.
Students who wish to chalk have no prerequisite to contact his department as long as they follow the UNM posting guidelines, which can be found on the Student Activity Center’s website, he said.
West said the biggest problem for his department is dealing with graffiti, which can be expensive to remove and takes a lot of manpower to do.
“The University of New Mexico always has a graffiti problem, it seems,” he said. “This year to date, which begins from the beginning of January, my staff has spent over 600 hours of labor just removing graffiti on campus.”
West said his department has had to spend about $32,000 on exterior graffiti removal thus far in 2016.
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That number does not include what custodial staff has to do inside bathrooms or other areas inside buildings, or what it costs for area maintenance staff to repaint the outsides of buildings, or even re-stucco in some cases.
“We rely heavily on the public and students to let us know if they see (graffiti), so we can attempt go after these individuals to stop them from doing it,” West said. “Because unfortunately this money is taken away from other things we could be doing for the campus and for the students.”
While there had been an increase in graffiti due to the presidential race, West said this campaign season’s graffiti has actually increased less than previous campaign seasons.
“It has gone up a little bit...both pro and negative signs and postings, but we haven’t seen it go up as much as we have seen in previous election cycles,” he said. “This one’s been, ironically, a little bit more well-behaved.”
West said he believes there may be an increase next week as the SUB is an early voting site. As more people start coming on campus to vote, the department may see an uptick in graffiti, especially since the local elections are more competitive.
West said it is important to understand the differences between chalking and graffiti, as one is viewed as a student-sponsored activity involving free speech, while the other often involves individuals from off campus.
Graffiti constitutes an offense, and West said his department can file charges against those who partake in it at UNM.
“We actually photograph all of our events, and if we see that person over and over again we can actually catch them,” he said. “If we have a history (with them), we can get reimbursed for everything.”
West said UNM offers areas for people to express their opinions on bulletin boards around campus, adding that graffiti is very expensive for his department to stay on top of.
He urges students to help when they can, either by asking someone to stop or by contacting UNMPD.
Lindquist said as long as students follow UNM policy concerning chalking, he encourages students to express themselves through the practice.
“For people that want to use chalking as a medium for marketing, I encourage them to do so — as long as they follow the rules,” he said.
Nichole Harwood is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
