Austin Elliott, Eastern Echo, December 16, 2018

Spotted earlier today by a reporter for the Eastern Echo, one of the walls in the Free Speech Space reads “it’s okay to be white.” The message comes a week after a statement condemning anti-semitism was tampered with on the same wall.

“As soon as we saw that message, we knew it couldn’t stay up,” said Student Government Vice President Ethan Smith. “To whoever did this, I’d just say give it up. {snip}”

Eastern Michigan University’s Free Speech and Speaker Policy calls for the university to ensure the “safety and security” of people on and around Eastern’s campus, while allowing views to be expressed openly to allow for “critical evaluation.”

Student Government encourages students to speak up and shut down inflammatory and hateful messages when they appear on campus. The guidelines for use of the Student Speech Space, which include the kiosk and the walls, call it a creative space for students to “communicate upcoming events and other public messages.”

{snip}

The message was painted over at 6:00 p.m. by members of Student Government and the Silver Linings Fellowship Group.