Photos: “Chalk de Franzia” Lands on Wesleyan Sidewalks

If Tour de Franzia happens outside of Fisk Hall on a Friday afternoon and only about five people show up, does it make a sound? (And can you still get slapped with six judicial points?)

Continuing its brief but noble history of stirring the pot, the mysteriously run @WesUnity Twitter (which drew eyeballs when it announced last month that Tour de Franzia was being disciplined more severely than some instances of sexual assault or misconduct) made a Facebook event on Thursday called “Tour de Franzia”:

what’s a tour de franzia? facebook.com/events/5916637…

— Wesleyan Unity (@WesUnity) May 10, 2013

Culling its cover photo from Wesleying’s Decade Without Chalking series, the event wasn’t quite as it seemed. It was calling for a public, daytime chalk-in, not too different from the one that took place in October. The wine would stay at home:

we’re not drinking
it won’t be the evening
you can wear costumes
there’s one destination on the scavenger hunt
it’s high street below north college outside of fisk
there will be chalk
participate by expressing how you feel in colorful detail

fun fact—high street is Middletown public property and chalking on its sidewalk is legal and encouraged. rebels out there might end up chalking right outside north college. how hardcore.

When I arrived at Fisk on Friday afternoon, a full pack of chalk was already waiting for me, along with a message promising more at Olin. Two or three fellow students had shown up for the Tour:

For the next half hour or so, we chalked. Passing students joined in. A professor joined in. An older gentleman joined in. December graduate Rotbot joined in. A dog joined in (sort of). Eventually we moved our operations to the CFA, where the West African dance performance raged nearby and parents were milling. At this point two or three toddlers noticed the chalking and excitedly joined in the criminal behavior childhood pastime:

Chalked messages ranged from political to nonsensical. They involved fake classes and Michael Roth quotes and hashtags and various artistic renderings. Some commented on the contentious nature of the form itself. Parents and children walked by, smiling all the while.

Here’s a gallery of the chalking that ensued. You can read Wesleying’s five-part series on chalking here. Is anyone up for another Tour de Franzia next weekend?

[Disclosure: While I didn’t organize or conceive of this event, I did take part in the chalking.]

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Chalking Tag