Graffiti culture on campus disputed

"Our veins are intertwined like mic cables cords," reads the last stall on the right in the women's bathroom located in the basement of the Library. Scrawled on many stalls and walls of Vassar College is graffiti, which varies in its mixed responses from those on campus as well as its level of offensiveness and ability to be removed.

While some graffiti is simply song lyrics, poems or ideas written lightly in pencil, other instances are far more problematic and offensive, such as the swastika found on a bench by Blodgett in Spring 2011.

"This kind of graffiti is anti-Semitic in nature, offensive and intolerable within our community. The strength of our community demands that we respect the diverse beliefs and traditions our students, faculty and staff value. To step away from that respect in any way diminishes the community for everyone," wrote President of the College Catharine Bond Hill in an email to the campus last April.

Although no more swastikas appeared last year, offensive homophobic graffiti was recently found in Davison House. "This is the first instance of graffiti I've seen in Davison specifically and I've rarely seen it in other dorms. It was never something that I thought was a huge problem at Vassar," said Davison House President Doug Greer '14.

House Advisor of Main Tom Park confirmed this. "In my experience since coming to Vassar a year ago, graffiti is not necessarily a regularity, but more prevalent than we would like," he said. "It is the prominence of it that is really the issue when you talk about how noticeable it is."

"Most bathrooms stalls have something written on them. It would be one thing if it was artistic, but it's usually something gauche scribbled sloppily in black marker," said Raymond House President Sam Brucker '14.

The College responds to graffiti according to its severity. Non-offensive graffiti in pen or pencil is wiped off by the custodial staff. For difficult-to-remove graffiti that is not offensive in nature, Park said, "Every effort is made to determine the culprits so that the remediation charges can be assessed directly, but if no responsibility can be assigned, the whole house is assessed the charge. If the graffiti, minor or prominent, is offensive in nature, Safety and Security is notified so that they can document it and a report is submitted. This is followed by an investigation and meetings with the house team and members of the community to discuss the impact of it and to solicit assistance in helping to identify the culprits," said Park.

In general the Residential Life Office has a "Not in My Back Yard" stance in response to incidences of offensive graffiti. Park said, "The house collectively stands against things like that from being acceptable or even happening in the house."

This was the case in response to the graffiti found in Davison. Greer said, "The house team felt it was best that we have an all dorm meeting this Monday because this issue really does affect each member of our house. There, we are going to talk about how people are feeling about what happened and what action we can take to support everyone affected as well as preventing this kind of thing from happening in the future."

While Brucker expressed displeasure over the offensive graffiti, he holds the view that some graffiti has the ability to be positive.

"If we're just talking about unsolicited art work in general, I think that kind of artistic passion can contribute to the creation of a comfortable home as apposed to detracting from it," he said.

On the fourth floor of Noyes, blue painter's tape marked an outline of a family of narwhals, the dorm's mascot. "It's not graffiti. It's beautification and it makes the dorm feel homier," said Noyes resident Rocky Schwartz '15.

But not all members of the Vassar community felt that graffiti was positive. "Graffiti by nature causes damage to property," said Assistant Director of Safety and Security Kim Squillace.

Jewett House President Clayton Masterman '13 agreed: "There are plenty of forums for positive messages, but graffiti in the houses isn't one of them. Regardless of its content, it inherently disrespects the common space that we all share."

Strong House President Manning Wu '14 disagreed: "Given Vassar's artistic, quirky reputation, a positive message inscription would probably be responded to with nothing more than a chuckle and then left alone until Res Life came through with a new paint job."

"A positive message to one group of students can be something that is offensive or makes another group uncomfortable. It's a slippery slope and not a question easily answered by a simple yes or no," said Park.

Students considering adding their favorite quote to a bathroom door must consider its impact on the custodial staff and other students before grabbing a pen.