'Hate wall' destroyed

Students tore down hate on Wednesday.

By Allie Blood

Published Oct. 19, 2007

Students made an effort to tear down hate Wednesday afternoon in Brady Commons when they tore down a "hate wall," as a form of symbolic support of tolerance and equality.

The Missouri Students Association Senate Multicultural Issues Committee sponsored the event to show the power of hateful words. Participants wrote offensive words — including racial, ethnic, gender and sexual slurs — on a wall made of foam and wood before tearing it down.

Due to rain, the committee moved the event to Brady Commons from Speaker's Circle.

Event coordinator Jeff Goodman said many students stopped to write on the wall as they passed the event.

"It was pretty powerful and way better than I expected," Goodman said.

Multicultural Issues Committee Chairwoman Melissa Vought estimated a few hundred people participated and learned about the event from a Facebook.com group and fliers in classrooms. Students came with lists of words or phrases to add to the wall.

"There were two 8-by-4 walls that were completely covered," Vought said.

Vought said senior Bruce Hall came up with the idea for the event, ran it for its first two years and helped build the wall this year, Vought said.

In an effort to get more students involved, committee members asked students in Brady Commons to stop and participate.

"It was really embarrassing to catch people in the middle of Brady Commons and ask them to write something offensive, but it was a good exercise to expose stereotypes," MSA Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays said.