Whitworth's Division of Student Life, has recently passed a policy on student chalking that limits the areas in which students can engage in protest chalking. 

This petition is created with the intention of reversing this protest chalking policy change and reverting it back to the version used previously up until the fall of 2026. This would mean removing the first clause and maintaining that protest/advocacy chalking may be done on any part of campus, so long as it remains on the sidewalk.

This change was made, as stated my ASWU student leaders, so that those walking campus don't have to involuntarily see protests and can choose whether or not to view them. We propose that the exact purpose of protest is to be non-optional. Protest is a freedom which allows people to bring issues to attention that they care about to the general public loudly and proudly. If students on Whitworth's campus feel they are being made to hide their protest, then what is the point? We maintain that student protest should be allowed on any part of campus so long as no property damage or disturbance of the peace is created. 

From a student perspective, these changes feel like a demand from administration that the things students care about, their concerns and expression, should be hidden from view. We believe this is a direct violation of a student’s right to peaceful protest by limiting the capabilities for and visibility of protest.

For decades now, Whitworth has maintained a positive attitude and encouragement towards respectful discourse, embracing the disagreements and hard conversations so that progress can be made. Protest chalking is an extension of this and the chalking policy should be a reflection of Whitworth's attitude towards democracy and discourse. By hiding the chalk, the most valuable parts of Whitworth's campus are being hidden. One of the most beautiful parts of Whitworth is our diversity and our disagreement. Whitworth represents such a wide range of beliefs and it is out hope that each of these voices would be given more than one sidewalk to express themselves with.

Chalking has always been a central part of Whitworth student's voices, since the very first protest against the Sodexo Dining Hall, to the protests of the Vietnam war, to the call for change in the LGBTQ+ faculty hiring policy, and still now. It is a valuable piece of campus culture that should not be changed so rapidly, and especially without vote from ASWU, the government body which directly hears and represents student voices.

Please sign this petition to show your support for reversing this chalking policy change and uplifting the student voices on Whitworth’s campus!

This petition calls for only the removal of the first clause change, while maintaining the rest of the policy that states chalking may only be done on sidewalks (not other surfaces) and that chalking is not permitted to include hate speech, libel, etc.