For press information, contact Student Activities Council, 901-678-8679

The Wall is a physical representation of the words, acts, and scenarios that divide people. Each cinder block will be designed by a member of the campus community to represent a real life experience or emotion based on discrimination that an individual has faced. The blocks will depict the history of various forms of discrimination experienced by people every day. The Wall will demonstrate the barrier to a brighter tomorrow that individuals will face unless the issues illustrated by the words written on the blocks are addressed, then “torn down.”

At the U of M, more than 300 students, faculty, and staff have contributed cinder blocks, sharing the words and phrases that have hurt them. The Wall will be revealed at an opening ceremony Monday, March 30, at 12:30 p.m. It will be on display throughout the week.

On Friday, April 3, at 12:30 p.m., individuals of all different races, nationalities, abilities, orientations, and religions will come together to ceremonially dismantle the Wall, thus symbolically eradicating hatred and the barriers that hatred creates in our society. 

Students on campuses nationwide have created walls as part of the project.  At the U of M, the Writing on the Wall Project is a part of the University’s sixth annual “Why Do You Hate Me?” Week, which addresses issues of discrimination. The week also will feature the Tunnel of Oppression (an interactive simulation of discrimination) March 31 and April 1 from 7 to 9 p.m. on the second floor of the Panhellenic Building, and a keynote speech by Brent Scarpo April 2 at 6 p.m. in the Rose Theatre.

More information about the U of M’s Writing on the Wall Project is available by phone at 901-678-8679 or online at  www.memphis.edu/sac/wdyhm_wall.htm