Chalk writings across UCF campus caused an uproar from students over social media last week.
Sidewalks and walls around campus were covered in vague chalk messages such as “you are broken” and “#brokenucf.” Students rushed to social media to figure out where the messages were coming from.
“I thought it was a promotion for therapy, or AA,” says UCF freshman Bianca Ungerman. “When I discovered its true meaning, my stomach was in knots.”
Cru, an on-campus student religious group, made the chalk writings in order to promote their “It Is Broken” campaign. Cru members say the campaign was started to tell people that everyone has “experienced brokenness” in their lives.
“A lot of people have thought that this is about condemnation and pointing a finger saying ‘you are a sinner,'” says Tim Johnson, a junior at UCF and a member of Cru, “but we are not about that at all. We just want to start a conversation with students.”
The campaign received a lot of attention from students on social media and led to many of them voicing their opinions over Twitter and UCF student Facebook groups.
“I get what their intention is but its incredibly presumptive and disrespectful to the student body/faculty as a whole to say that we’re ‘broken’ because of their own religious beliefs,” says junior Willow McGinty. “Personally, I think that they aren’t making our campus any better by belittling everyone.”
The timing of the campaign was also a cause for concern for students. Many noticed that the chalk writings appeared the same day an LGBTQ History Month event was taking place on campus. Johnson explains, “it was an unfortunate coincidence, we actually went to the event and apologized to them because we did not mean to target them in any way.”
The group has been faced with hostility from people who are angered by the campaign. Johnson says they have received threats over the internet and had added security at their “It Is Broken” event on Thursday night. However, Cru still encouraged students to attend the event to express their opinions and beliefs.
Regardless of the intent behind the campaign, many students felt attacked by the messages. “We are not broken,” says McGinty. “We are individuals trying to figure out who we want to be, and what future we want to see. When you insult UCF as a whole, it feels personal to me.”
