Students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reportedly defaced and erased pro-life messages chalked around campus, sparking concerns about free speech suppression, according to a student at the university.
Aneesh Swaminathan wrote in an op-ed for The College Fix that the university’s pro-life society wrote phrases such as “We are the pro-life generation” on sidewalks across campus, accompanying the slogans with drawings of an unborn baby and links to information about pregnancy resource centers.
The messages quickly drew attention on Sidechat, a social media platform for college campuses. Students made posts such as “F*** whoever drew that pro-life bs outside Levering [Hall]” and suggested erasing or scribbling over the messages. They also kept each other informed on which campus locations still had messages to be erased.
“Within two hours, almost all the messages had been washed away or scribbled over,” Swaminathan wrote.
He wrote that the defacing was defended as counterspeech but that some said it constituted suppression, rather than responsive free speech.
According to Swaminathan, the incident was not the first time the pro-life society — or other groups or individuals expressing unpopular views — have faced backlash or retaliation on campus. He noted that the conduct extends to the administration, even though the college claims to support free speech, citing repeated attempts to block the pro-life society from hosting speaker Kristan Hawkins.
“Despite university-wide announcements promoting civil dialogue and resources on free expression,” he wrote, “some students say the risk of backlash, social ostracism, or being publicly identified with unpopular views shapes what they are willing to say, display, or support.”