{"id":4164,"date":"2021-12-07T10:28:24","date_gmt":"2021-12-07T18:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/?p=4164"},"modified":"2021-12-07T10:30:07","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T18:30:07","slug":"tales-from-the-archive-the-big-debate-graffiti-at-reed-1980-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/tales-from-the-archive-the-big-debate-graffiti-at-reed-1980-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Tales from the Archive: The Big Debate: Graffiti at Reed, 1980-2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Graffiti at Reed has been a contentious debate for the past four decades amongst both students and faculty. Some have viewed it as a valuable expression of free speech and student autonomy. Others have considered its presence a nuisance, one that degrades the college\u2019s quality and reputation. Most of Reed\u2019s graffiti has taken on a political bent, though at times it has purely been comical. From the 1980s till now the Reed College Quest has been the primary arbiter between those in support and those against graffiti.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The debates surrounding graffiti in the 1980s were varied, with one article from November 14, 1984, decrying its existence due to its obscene nature. While the author acknowledges that graffiti on campus can be humorous, she critiques its occasional breach into problematic territory. On one such occasion, a student wrote on a bicycle ad that \u201cWomen shouldn\u2019t ride bikes anyway.\u201d We can all agree this is a poor use of ink, especially in an era when women\u2019s rights were increasingly threatened. This was the 80s, when Ronald Reagan and the nascent Evangelical right were becoming increasingly powerful, and along with them came attacks on women\u2019s reproductive rights. In 1987, another article, \u201cMetaphysical Graffiti”, praised graffiti\u2019s prevalence. Written in response to the erasure of graffiti by other students and campus services, the author argues that graffiti at Reed is unique when compared to \u201cregular outside of Reed graffiti” insofar as it is creative, witty, and intellectual. Hence, \u201cgraffiti at Reed [should not be] thought of as defacing property so much as an anonymous forum for the expression of a diverse number of views\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The article then discusses how different departments at Reed have their own brand of graffiti, like the Chemistry department\u2019s graffiti which featured a chemical formula to make \u201cFive-Pronged Werewolf Slayer.\u201d Instead of erasing graffiti, the author argues it should be preserved and designated to particular spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1990s brought about an era in which students were much less keen on graffiti\u2019s ubiquity. This is, in part, due to dramatic increases in graffiti and general vandalism which occurred at the school during the era. The debate hit its peak in the late 1990s, with 1997 featuring almost monthly articles on graffiti\u2019s prevalence. In February of that year, one article claimed that \u201cgraffiti as a means of social expression is tantamount to ethical cowardice insofar as the accountable party does not take responsibility for his\/her viewpoints”. This was in response to the defacing of the new commons, which had recently been renovated. Another article published the same year, \u201cAre We Gettin More Destructive?\u201d, presented various arguments for why Reedies are \u201cmore destructive\u201d than they once were, and argued that graffiti is the most obvious example of this increase in destructive habits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another hypothesis for the rise in graffiti was the closure of Commons\u2019 lower level, a space traditionally used for student activities, which had the dual purpose of serving as a \u201cnatural outlet” for destructiveness on campus. Additionally, the lower level of commons was apparently used as a \u201csexual clearinghouse for the campus,” and because of its closure, students \u201chave taken their excess sexual tension and channeled it into destroying the campus\u201d. Another theory for the rise in graffiti is an increased number of students who are \u201cvolatile drunks and addicts [who] roam the campus,” who in their inebriated states wreak havoc on Reed\u2019s infrastructure. While these are all compelling theories, the prevalence of graffiti certainly has not abated and continues to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Graffiti at Reed in the twenty-first century has remained a staple of the SU and in campus bathroom stalls, and the occasional monumental design can be found on the side of buildings. To this day, both graffiti\u2019s presence and its erasure by campus services is still being debated, with 2020 being a particularly controversial year due to the country\u2019s political environment. While most graffiti has been tame, there have certainly been instances where graffiti has been used in harmful ways. If you want to see more pictures check out our digital collections, or visit special collections and archives, or email us at archives@reed.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graffiti at Reed has been a contentious debate for the past four decades amongst both students and faculty. Some have viewed it as a valuable expression of free speech and student autonomy. Others have considered its presence a nuisance, one that degrades the college\u2019s quality and reputation. Most of Reed\u2019s graffiti has taken on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1464,"featured_media":4137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,29,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-archives","category-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1464"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4164"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4172,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4164\/revisions\/4172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.reed.edu\/library-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}