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Editor's note: The Graffiti Wall, a billboard for student causes and creativity at Ohio University at least since the early 1970s, is being replaced as part of a renovation and addition project involving nearby Bentley Hall. Richard Shultz of the Facilities Planning Office says the new wall, which students have had a hand in planning, will measure about 10 feet high and 80 feet long. Made of poured concrete, it will have a curving top edge that complements the adjacent Bentley Hall annex. Both the wall and the annex, which will house faculty offices, a computer lab and two sociology/anthropology labs, are expected to be complete in September. Renovations to Bentley should be finished about a year later. In the meantime, students are expressing themselves on a makeshift plywood wall along Richland Avenue. Shultz doesn't downplay the importance of getting the new wall right. He says Student Senate and Division of Student Affairs members are keeping tabs on the work and will have a chance to weigh in if they don't like the way the project is progressing. In the meantime, students involved in the Bicentennial Campaign are selling pieces of the old wall to raise funds for a new student center. For details, see With Your Support. Three readers shared memories of the University's Graffiti Wall following a spring 2001 Ohio Today story on the campus icon. Here are their letters.
My wife and I could not be more different. She is from Pennsylvania. I am from Ohio. She was a chemical engineering major, and I majored in psychology. I could go on. But one thing we have in common is our love for Ohio University and our memories of the Graffiti Wall. Maureen and I met while we were both in school. We dated and enjoyed our time on the beautiful Athens campus. We both graduated and moved on to the next phases of our lives. She got a job as a manager of a research and development department for a major automotive interior supplier, and I prepared to go away to graduate school to earn my master's and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology. We decided that we would not get married until after I had finished school. We were in Canton, Ohio, for several months working, and she mentioned that it would be nice to go back and visit our alma mater for a day. She had not been back for a real visit since she graduated in '96 and was longing for a Popeye's Pleasure bagel from Bagelstreet Deli and a stroll down memory lane. Several plans were aborted, and the trip was postponed a few times until the weather was more cooperative. As she drove up Richland Avenue we approached the infamous Graffiti Wall. When we were close enough she saw the word "Maureen" in the top left corner and innocently observed, "Look, someone with the same name as me." As the full wall came into view her face looked pale and shocked, and she seemed to forget that she was still operating a motor vehicle. The wall was almost torn down that day by her car! When she finally stopped the car and we got out, she was in utter shock. The enormous message before us simply read: "MAUREEN, WILL YOU MARRY ME? Saturday, May 24th -- GEOFFREY" Maureen was shocked for several reasons. First, we were not supposed to even think about marriage until I was done with my graduate coursework. Second, she had no idea that I had a ring and/or a plan. Third, she was the one who suggested we go to OU (which happened to fit in perfectly with the plans I had made long before). And finally, we both were living in Canton (three hours away), and I could not possibly have made it down there without her knowledge. The reason the plan worked so well was the 11 friends who selflessly stayed up all night painting a wall on Memorial Day weekend so that my wife would have a proposal as unique and special as she is. It also was fitting that it happened on the campus that brought us together in the first place. I cannot thank those friends enough for helping me make the memory a special one. For us, the wall will always have a special meaning in our memories and in our hearts. Geoffrey Putt, AB '97, Canton, Ohio It was with great surprise that I came upon the Graffiti Wall on the morning of June 2, 1972, as I headed up Richland Avenue from the West Green. Unbeknownst to me, my roommate and friends had slipped out in the middle of the night to paint the wall in honor of my 19th birthday. One of those dear friends has since died, and I have lost touch with all of the others except one. However, the memories surrounding that surprise will forever be etched in my mind and heart. Currently, my two sons are students at Ohio University. I was saddened when they told me that the original wall had been torn down. It's nice to know that a new version of the wall is being constructed so OU students can continue to express themselves freely and creatively. Georgiann Basilone-Moss, BSED '75, Mentor, Ohio One of my greatest memories of OU is when I proposed to my wife, Molly Nieport Starkey, BSED '97, via the Graffiti Wall. She had already graduated but returned on Parents Weekend of my senior year to watch me march in the 110, which is how we met. I made dinner reservations at the Oak Room for Saturday evening, during which several of our friends would paint a message on the wall. I was supposed to receive a page when they were finished but never received it. I stalled as long as I could with ice cream at the Lollipop and nervous conversation on the College Green but decided to walk her by the wall, message complete or not. When we arrived, they had already finished, and the message, "Molly, Will you marry me? Love Dustin," was painted in green on a white background. It was perfect. What made it more perfect were the floods of people walking along Richland Avenue to see George Carlin at the Convo. When the masses realized that I was proposing, they stopped to watch. A confirmatory hug drew cheers and applause from the crowd. It was like a scene from a cheesy, '80s feel-good movie. We felt like rock stars. We came back later that night and the following day to take pictures. Thanks again to our friends for helping to make it a truly memorable night. Dustin Starkey, BS '98, Cincinnati, Ohio |
