After the UO Coalition for Palestine’s encampment officially ended, University of Oregon Campus Planning and Facilities Management spent $18,648.00 restoring Johnson Hall from vandalism, according to Tad Lueck, carpentry, paint and night maintenance manager for CPFM.
Lueck said the $18,648.00 cost for cleanup and labor was only for the vandalism directly associated with the demonstration.
During the encampment, demonstrators glued posters to Johnson Hall, used chalk to write messages on the building and put chalk handprints resembling blood on the windows.
The demonstrators removed some of their posters and the encampment as part of an agreement reached with UO admin. However, their chalk messages and the glued posters remained on Johnson Hall.
CPFM began cleaning up Johnson Hall on May 24, the day after the encampment ended. A crew spent the entire day cleaning the building and surrounding area, which cost about $3,000 in labor. The crew started by removing the chalk from the stairs, the front portico and the walkway, Lueck said.
The cleaning crew removed most of the chalk during the initial cleanup, but the rest will take time and sunlight to bleach out.
Senior environmental science major Lauren Hodges said she only saw chalk on the sidewalks but felt it was a good way for the demonstrators to state their messages.
“[The chalk] was a good way for the group of people that were protesting to state their message in a way that could be seen but also removed later once they had had some of their demands met,” Hodges said.
Fourth-year human psychology major Anais Kolesnikov also did not notice the chalk on Johnson Hall and said she hoped it was not disruptive to the building’s staff.
“I don’t know the extent to which the chalk going up was loud or disturbing the normal workflow of the people that work in that building,” Kolesnikov said. “But I guess that protests are supposed to be disruptive.”
After CPFM cleaned Johnson Hall, some students, like Kolesnikov, said the building looked the same as before and did not notice a difference. Others, like Hodges, said the building looked nicer.
“It makes sense to have [the chalk] removed for aesthetic purposes, especially with the university graduation coming up and people visiting it makes sense that [the university] would want it removed,” Hodges said. “But I think it was probably a little speedy to have it removed that fast.”
Hodges also commented on the graffiti at Ford Alumni Center and the Oregon Duck statue at Matthew Knight Arena.
“For what the protest was trying to do, it makes sense that they were hitting those high target areas, and they had some of their demands met so it worked,” Hodges said. “If [the graffiti] could be easily cleaned, I feel like it’s not too detrimental overall.”
Kolesnikov said she is glad the protest was peaceful and hopes everyone can unite, regardless of affiliation.
“This was a really hard time to be a student, whether you’re Jewish, Palestinian or not affiliated with either,” she said. “If we can come together as a community and support each other regardless of our political views, at the end of the day, we’re all people and we all deserve a safe, warm, well-lit place to be.”
Lueck said his crew is still cleaning up campus buildings after the encampment and will deal with vandalism as it becomes apparent to them.
