‘Wall of Hate’ brings mixed feelings to campus

By Nicole Shaker and Lauren Do Namscimento •

On Oct. 23, the Diversity Student Council’s “Wall of Hate” was torn down, and, according to the latest statement by President George L. Hanbury II, this would be the last time the wall would be on campus.

“This year’s ‘Wall of Hate’ project resulted in undue and unintended stress, anxiety and alarm among many members of our community – and understandably so. The type of display this year was a grievous mistake, given the lack of advance notice, and contextual information, coupled with the Middle East crisis and ongoing social strife in many communities across our nation,” wrote President Hanbury, apologetically. “I would like to extend my apologies to the entire NSU community and the community at large. We have taken corrective measures so that it will not occur in the future. This includes discontinuing the particular ‘Wall of Hate’ display ritual.”

For about 20 years, colleges and universities in the United States, including NSU, have implemented the “Wall of Hate” to eliminate hate. Students write on it phrases of hate speech they have heard or been told. Then, the wall is torn down, as if to eradicate those feelings.

But this year, it didn’t work as planned. It was placed on the Library Quad in front of the Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center. As students walked out of class, they saw a wall covered with antisemitic and racist language.

Many students were unaware of the event and the purpose of the wall.

Sara Frost, NSU Hillel campus director, said some of the antisemitic statements were, in fact, written by a Jewish student, who did not intend to be antisemitic but rather write hateful statements they have heard in the past.

“In my opinion, the Diversity Council should have had signs, huge signs, explaining what the wall was because there are a lot of Jewish students on this campus,” Frost said. “There’s a student whose family member passed away serving in the IDF, the Israel Defensive Forces. Seeing that on the wall was really hard for this student.”

The wall’s teardown was originally scheduled for Oct. 27 but was pushed forward to Oct. 23 after the university received backlash from NSU students hurt by the hateful statements.

Courtlyn Heard, diversity engagement coordinator, said the wall was supposed to be an expressive outlet for students.

“The name is literally what it is,” Heard said. “We wanted to give the students the opportunity to just be expressive and showcase who they are and some of the things that they may have experienced throughout life through this wall.”

NSU posted to its official Instagram account clarifying the purpose of the event on Oct. 23, but many students’ comments expressed their disapproval.

“None of this was conveyed to students passing by. Seeing this wall with no context actively ruined my day,” James Perez posted.

Aryeh Richter, sophomore education and history major, agreed.

“When I didn’t even know it was planned, I thought it was like some graffiti,” Richter said. “I was infuriated because from what I had known earlier, this is a very Jewish-friendly campus and to see that, I was shocked.”

Yet, some students at NSU who wrote on the wall found it to be a cathartic experience.

“I wrote, ‘you’re too loud,’ which I’ve been told pretty much my entire life,” said Avani Kulkarni, senior neuroscience major. “From kindergarten and elementary school, my teachers and parents would always say, ‘You’re too loud, you talk too much.’”

Kulkarni liked the idea of the wall.

“It’s a creative idea. It’s kind of like breaking a plate, but in a bigger sense,” Kulkarni said. “It’s also showing how similar we are in a way that even though we’re all unique, we all get told the same things.”

Richter added that the event revealed a lot about the students at NSU.

“To see the student body and strangers all gather and say, ‘That’s not cool, we don’t do that’ showed me a lot,” Richter said. “Everyone here just wants to be good people and treat each other with respect, regardless of race, religion or culture.”