Almost 700 silver signatures from Ball State University students and faculty filled a large blue "Stop Hate" banner in Teachers College Monday.
For Ball State graduate student Tim Gordon, who envisioned collecting between 2,000 and 3,000 signatures during the next two weeks, that's a huge step toward the goal set by nine counseling psychology graduate students.
"We weren't expecting this many people," said Gordon, a third-year doctoral student in counseling psychology, who called the community reaction a snowball effect.
Gordon and eight other students in Lawrence Gerstein's social justice class came up with the idea about a month and a half ago. They launched the "Stop Hate" campaign Monday in an effort to take action against last semester's multiple racist incidences, which included black students being yelled at randomly by drivers on campus.
"We saw injustices on our campus," Gordon said, "and the injustices and the level of oppression that we saw here can only be combated by talking about it. ... These are issues that affect real people."
The banner, 50 feet by 30 feet, features the word "hate" in white surrounded by a red circle with a bar across it. The banner would have cost about $3,000 if created professionally, so the students used their budget of $500 to purchase a tarp and paint materials from Lowe's home improvement store. Creating the banner three weeks ago and touching it up last weekend took five hours total, Gordon said.
The students have enlisted the help of other counseling psychology students in operating the table in Teachers College this week and most likely in the Art and Journalism Building Atrium next week. About 61 co-sponsors have also helped with the project, including multicultural student and community organizations, fraternities and sororities, academic departments, the Office of the President and other student groups, Gordon said.
The group planned to hang the banner on the south side of Teachers College facing the Scramble Light on April 11, but problems with drilling on the side of the building and requiring a professional company to do the work means the banner will most likely appear at Bracken Library or another university building, Gordon said.
"It's kind of disappointing because we wanted this to be kind of a Teachers College thing," Gordon said. "When it really comes to it, we want it up, and we want the message to get out."
Casey Martin, second-year master's student in counseling psychology, said he hoped to get Muncie Mayor Dan Canan and Ball State President Jo Ann Gora to appear at the banner's unveiling in two weeks. Gora agreed via e-mail to sign the banner during the next two weeks, he said.
"I think we are in a place where there is really, really heavy need," Martin said. "There are a lot of people willing to get in at a good level and put energy forth to make it happen."
Junior Tim Ryan, who is involved with the Asian American Student Association, Black Student Association and Latino Student Union, signed the banner Monday to encourage students to stop hate, he said.
"I hope that it would educate people and bring awareness to people that there are issues that need to be dealt with and that this is not okay," Ryan said.
Senior Tuyen Huynh said the message was especially important in modern-world issues.
"I think a lot of people will sign it," Huynh said. "It's a good cause, and it's a step closer to the equality of all races."
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