Tuesday was a prideful day to be a Shippensburg University student and a part of the LGBT community when students, faculty and administrators gathered in the Ceddia Union Building Amphitheater in solidarity after events that occurred the day prior. 

After word got around that someone had defaced the office used by Students Advocating for Equality (SAFE) with foul language and homophobic slurs, marketing major Austin Shupp posed the idea to wash the campus in pride. 

“It’s awesome to see from the top down,” Shupp said, mentioning how good it felt to be in the community and see administrators, professors and staff showing up in support of their students.

Equipped with rainbow, gender identity and sexual preference flags, students took to the pavement with chalk to show signs of belonging, hope and love. Friends and strangers shared stories and kind words to lift the spirits attempted to be shattered by the actions of the vandal.

“[Identifying as LGBT] doesn’t make us less than a person. We have stories that correspond with our emotions,” art major Ammi Vazquez said. 

“We shouldn’t have to know what SAFE is when something bad happens,” graduate student Alexandra Jones said. “It was one of the many [responses] that needed to happen, but there was a lack of addressing what happened.” 

As the event came to an end, students handed out pamphlets that instructed on how to be a good ally on campus and how people can do their part. 

The pamphlet promotes a safe environment and ensures allies are doing their part to bring a good attitude and proper language to the table when prompted to stick up for the community or give into hatred. 

“This is a great community,” said Becky Ward women’s and gender studies department director. “We got to get the word out. We can’t tolerate hate.” 

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