Just before Visitor’s Weekend: April 13 and 14: the Free Expression Wall in front of Olin Hall was taken down.

E-mails to the student listserv speculated that the removal was an attempt by the Whitman administration to clean up a controversial image to make Whitman appear more aesthetically pleasant to prospective students and their parents.

Senior Laura Hanson was told by another student of the wall’s removal and sent an e-mail to the listserv that weekend. Hanson has differing opinions about the wall, but maintains that its presence was sanctioned by students and the administration.

Last fall, senior Thomas Miller came up with the idea for a Free Expression Wall in the time before the Race Symposium. Students signed a petition made by Miller for the approval and the construction of the wall. Dean of Students Chuck Cleveland said the wall was to be a temporary installation before and after the Race Symposium.

Cleveland debunked listserv speculation that the Wall’s removal was mandated by the administration. In fact, a group of concerned students requested it be taken down, he said.

“I didn’t know anything about [the removal]. I knew the boards were originally designed to be temporary for the Race Symposium, when they were supposed to be taken down, but for whatever reason they were up. Then, the next thing [I knew], they were gone,” said Cleveland.

Director of Student Activities George Theo asked Cleveland about the disappearance of the Wall, informing him of rumors that students were involved.

Cleveland put in a call to the Physical Plant, which confirmed rumors Theo had heard.
A group of students reportedly felt “unsafe” because of something written on the Expression Wall, so they sought help from Whitman Security. Security referred the students to the Physical Plant, where the students requested the Wall be taken down.
“Part of me wants to say, ‘Well, this is a student-sanctioned space, sanctioned by the administration.’ The wall was expensive and no one consulted the students who had signed a petition that they wanted a Free Expression Wall before they took it down. I think there needs to be some sort of reciprocity,” said Hanson. “Part of me doesn’t want a Free Expression Wall because it means that free expression only happens on this one space.”

Currently, there is no further information about the content on the Wall that prompted its removal, nor are there further plans.