It has been spotted by the clock tower, next to the IU Art Museum and behind Woodburn Hall, and every day there are new words written on it.
The words are derogatory: insults and stereotypes are written by the students who pass the wall.
This is the Wall of Prejudice, created by Pi Lambda Phi fraternity as part of its Elimination of Prejudice Week, Sept. 21-26.
“The idea is that students write words and phrases about things they want to see eliminated,” said Thomas Mandel, vice president for Elimination of Prejudice programming within Pi Lambda Phi.
On Saturday in Dunn Meadow, Pi Lambda Phi will tear down the wall.
The ceremony is meant to be a metaphor for breaking down everyday prejudices, Mandel said.
“Tearing down the wall is meant to symbolize our understanding within the community that we’re not going to tolerate those kinds of behavior going forward,” Mandel said.
This will conclude a week of events sponsored by Pi Lambda Phi in partnership with 10 other groups on campus.
Events included discussions on LGBTQ issues, race and culture, religious stereotypes and mental health stigma.
“The wall acts as a forum to raise awareness for these issues, and the discussions seek to deepen our understanding of how we can actively avoid prejudice,” said Dan DeBard, president of Pi Lambda Phi.
One of these discussions was led by Alpha Kappa Alpha multicultural sorority Wednesday evening about race and cultural challenges. The sorority used games, videos and small discussion groups to encourage students to talk about their experiences with race and culture.
The purpose of the discussion was to share a better understanding of how to respect issues of race everyday, said Gabrielle Hicks, president of Alpha Kappa Alpha.
“It would be unrealistic to think we can change this large issue within a week,” Hicks said. “But the goal is to get people to start thinking more deeply about things outside of what they’re used to.”
Anne Tinder, president of IUSA, and Kiara Williams, vice president of the IU Black Student Union, also spoke at the event.
“We can never expect people to talk about issues like prejudice on their own,” Williams said. “But if we initiate them, students will continue to talk about it and learn from each other.”
Alpha Kappa Alpha, like the other groups organizing events this week, want to help students start their own conversations about diversity and create learning moments, Hicks said.
Elimination of Prejudice Week is national event for all chapters of Pi Lambda Phi, but this is the first year the IU chapter has brought the event to campus, DeBard said.
The fraternity is hoping to make Elimination of Prejudice Week an annual event in the future, Mandel and DeBard said.
“Unless you really take active strides against prejudice every day it’s something that’s not going to happen,” Mandel said. “So by having it every year, we feel that it would help to keep reinforcing the idea.”
As Pi Lambda Phi prepares to take the wall down, it hopes students stay interested in learning how to be more inclusive of others, Mandel said. He emphasized the need to raise awareness even after the Elimination of Prejudice Week has ended and the wall is gone.
“We just want students to go throughout college and life with a better understanding of people and an attitude of kindness,” DeBard said.
