Students gathered on UF’s North Lawn on Friday to demolish a wall of hate, for some a metaphor for their country’s current political backdrop.
During the Writing on the Wall Project, hosted by UF’s Inter-Residence Hall Association Social Justice, students scrawled negative words on bricks to essentially form a wall of hate.
After a week, students tore it down in honor of anyone impacted by the language, said Sanaya Tamboli, the director of IRHA Social Justice. While about 200 people watched the wall come down, some students drew parallels to America’s current political context.
About 360 people contributed a brick to the wall, which was built on the lawn instead of its usual spot on the Plaza of the Americas because construction, the 20-year- old UF political science and international studies junior said.
Rachel Richards, a 21-year-old UF anthropology senior, said the project brought students together. After seeing the protest against Michael Dewitz, who wore a swastika armband on Turlington Plaza on Thursday, Richards said she felt more peaceful helping tear down the wall.
“What stuck out to me the most was when we got to a heavy brick, we had to lift it together,” Richards said. “One person couldn’t have done it alone. It’s very symbolic.”
Duncan Adkin, a 20-year-old UF digital arts and sciences sophomore, agreed that students were uni ed when the wall came down.
“Especially with the political climate today and President Trump, it feels good to be breaking down walls, not building them,” he said.
This article has been updated to reflect that Rachel Richards did not participate in the protest surrounding Michael Dewitz.
The wall is falling after being pulled down by dozens of volunteers at UF’s Inter-Residence Hall Association Social Justice's Writing on the Wall Program on Friday. The wall, which had been painted over with insults people had been told, was torn down and demolished as a means of catharsis.
