VIDEO: Emory President Makes Bold Statement In The Battle Over Trump Chalkings

Alex Keating10 years ago

Emory University President James Wagner is both the hero we deserve, and the hero that we need right now. For those of you who don’t recall, Emory was recently plagued by nonsensical protesting after a pro-Trump message, written in sidewalk chalk, appeared on campus.

On top of complaining to the university for several days to help them with their “pain,” they also proceeded to raise some fairly unintelligent questions regarding the matter; one student, who I assume has never taken a history class, could not seem to understand why a series of swastikas painted on an AEPi house at the school last year received such a quick and harsh response but these Trump chalkings did not – the anti-Semitic symbol of the Nazis, or a showing of support for a presidential candidate, you decide what’s worse.

Anyways, Wager, who I assume, like the majority of us, is tired of dealing with coddled, entitled college kids, made a bold statement regarding the matter, by writing “EMORY STANDS FOR FREE EXPRESSION!” in chalk on the same sidewalk where the Trump message appeared.

A student organization on campus that held multiple demonstrations petitioning for the support of free speech for students backed up the actions of Wagner by stating, “We are doing this to reaffirm Emory’s commitment to freedom of speech and expression. By no means would writing Trump in chalk ever be considered so severe that it could be considered harassment,” amen to that my friend.

Props to Wager for not folding and giving in to ridiculous protester demands as many university presidents have recently done when faced with similar issues. We can only hope that the handling of this situation can serve as a precedent for other schools who face similar issues. As someone who is frankly tired of hearing these immature children whine and complain about their feelings, a small victory such as this is extremely refreshing..