BUZZ
A popular free expression area UC San Diego has come under scrutiny following hate speech complaints.
“One of UC San Diego’s most popular spaces for student expression, the Graffiti Art Park, is now under evaluation by the University and cross-campus student councils following student complaints to the University that the space violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” the Guardian student newspaper reported.
The report does not state exactly what words or images prompted the complaints. Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal funding.
The student newspaper reported that “an undisclosed number of students have reported Title VI complaints to the University against the popular art installation due to the park’s unrestricted content rules, which they claim have led to instances of discrimination and hate speech.”
The Graffiti Art Park was established in 2014. Nestled within a eucalyptus grove near the student center, “it consists of eight double-sided, plywood canvases, inviting students to paint, draw, write, and express themselves,” according to the university’s website.
Often times the canvases feature artistic images but can also contain messages and slogans surrounding politics and other hot-button topics.
The complaints over the park were discussed at a recent student government meeting, and some ideas tossed around included having student monitors keep watch on the canvases. But students stressed they did not want the park removed, according to the meeting minutes.
News articles about the park over the years describe it as providing a valuable venue for avant-garde artistic expression.
“One of the few places the soul of our campus really shines through. Sometimes the boards will have something funny, often more serious signs of the times, sometimes things I disagree with and move on with my day,” one commenter on Instagram posted on the Guardian’s page sharing the story.
“Either way they keep us grounded and marginally make this campus feel like our own. These boards were meant to concentrate free expression to an allowed area, out of sight from the rest of the campus community, and now there are people trying to take that small sliver away. Keep an eye on who is trying to take that away and who concedes.”
The top suggestions the student government developed were to move the canvases back further into the grove, remind the campus the canvases can be repainted over at any time by anybody, and assigning student groups to monitor the canvases, the minutes stated.
John Payne, associate director of University Centers, told the Guardian: “There are concerns about the Graffiti Art Park and it being used as a medium for hate speech. Hate speech is protected by the First Amendment.”
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