Bricks with statements including “You aren’t smart enough to do that” and “Homos are sinners” were stacked on the Reitz Union North Lawn Tuesday.
Students decorated the bricks as part of the Writing on the Wall Project. Through the project, students paint the bricks with hurtful or offensive statements and will build a wall using the bricks Monday.
On Jan. 29, students will gather in the Plaza of the Americas to tear down the wall.
“We want people to think before they say that hurtful statement,” said Cary Warsetsky, a chemical engineering junior and the administrative director for the Writing on the Wall Project. “If we can make someone a little bit happier, then I think we’ve done a good job.”
Warsetsky said students can write whatever they want on the bricks unless it is a personal attack that includes someone’s name.
UF freshman Shalonda Lewis said the project is interesting because it shows the perspectives of others.
“To me or you, ‘Jew,’ is not an insult, but to other people it could be,” Lewis said.
Lewis wrote “WhoRE” on her brick.
“I think we tend to prejudge others and go off what they have on rather than who they are,” she said.
The project will continue on the Plaza of the Americas today and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students can also paint bricks at the Reitz Union North Lawn on Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
