Pro-Trump and anti-mainstream media messages written in chalk overnight at the University of Maryland were washed away Tuesday morning by students dumping buckets over water over them, according to tweets by student journalists at the College Park institution.
“Messages that advocated building a wall and deporting DREAMers were chalked outside Stamp. UMD students are now trying to wash them away,” Talia Richman of the university’s Capital News Service tweeted Tuesday shortly before 11 a.m.
Other messages like “CNN Is Fake News” and “We Won Snowflakes” were also written in chalk outside the Adele H. Stamp Student Union, Evan Berkowitz of the university student newspaper The Diamondback tweeted from his personal account, showing before-and-after pictures of the sidewalk where such messages had been left.
In a subsequent story written Tuesday afternoon for The Diamondback, Mr. Berkowitz reported that “Matt Morris, former Terps for Trump president, confirmed the now-defunct organization’s link to Monday night’s chalkings.”
Reacting on social media, various University of Maryland students Tuesday sought to organize a chalking of their own to counter what some deemed “hate speech.”
The Black Student Union at the university, for example, promoted a “#chalkumd” effort via its Twitter account, posting a screen capture from a cellphone message that urges students to “Come Counter-Chalk to Adele H. Stamp Student Union with messages of love. Take pictures of your work and use #ChalkUMD.”
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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