Students Angry After Political Messages Erased

INDIANAPOLIS -- Students at a downtown Indianapolis university are encouraged to use chalk to express their political views, but when those messages move from the sidewalks to the sides of buildings, that constitutes vandalism, school officials said.

Some John McCain supporters at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis said their right to free speech was infringed upon over the weekend when they were stopped by campus police after writing political messages on the sides of several buildings, 6News' Jennifer Carmack reported.

"The police came out and took our names as well, even though writing on the sidewalk is OK by IUPUI policy and they said they were going to wash it down, which is a violation of our rights and free speech," said student Max Engling.

School officials said that while they encourage students and student groups to use campus sidewalks to express their views, IUPUI buildings and the sidewalks directly in front of them are off limits.

"We consider it when people put things on the buildings to be vandalism because it could damage the buildings," said Student Life Vice Chancellor Karen Whitney.

Anything written within 20 feet of a building is also against school policy, she said. The only exception is IUPUI's Democracy Plaza, where students are encouraged to use chalk to write on large pillars.

Some students said no surfaces should be off limits to free speech, while others said they didn't understand what all of the fuss was about.

"To a degree we have freedom of speech and all, but this is seems a little outrageous," said student Ron Gamble.

"It's free speech if that's who they think is the best candidate, if that's what they want to express, that's fine," said student Corey Lee. "People express their opinions all over this campus; this shouldn't be any different."

Workers planned to power wash the sides of the buildings with chalk marks on Monday night.

Campus police said the case is still under investigation. It's not clear whether any of the students involved would face disciplinary action.