MUNCIE, Ind. (The CI) - “Not at Ball State, you don’t.”
In a video posted to the Instagram story of SJP Muncie (formerly Ball State Students for Justice in Palestine), a Ball State University official swept a message in chalk off of a sidewalk, the night before Admitted Students Day.
According to the Noncommercial Expressive Activity Policy, the subject of two federal lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana, chalking is specifically allowed “only on campus sidewalks or walkways that can be easily washed away by rain and that will not cause lasting or permanent damage.”
However, in the recorded exchange, the University official sweeping the chalk away with a broom called it “graffiti,” because the chalking was “with words.”
“Did you do this?,” the official asked the person recording.
“I didn’t do this,” they responded.
“Okay, then I won’t call the police,” the official stated.
“Call the police, for doing what?,” they asked.
“Graffiti,” the official responded.
“This isn’t graffiti,” they asserted. “This is sidewalk chalk!”
According to text burned into the video, SJP Muncie states the person was a student “threatened with arrest for chalking on the pavement, despite University policy affirming their right to do so.”
The Muncie Independent Media Service has contacted Ball State University via its media form for comment.