A large painting of a nude woman giving birth, posted over a doorway in Allen Hall by a group of students from an advertising class, has caused discussion this week because some people found the image offensive.
On Friday, the journalism school’s Advanced Copywriting class will be open to anyone who wants to discuss questionable portions of the project, which student Jillian Johnson removed Monday because it violated the building’s posting policy.
Some questioned the appropriateness of having an image of a nude woman in the hallways. The image included black pubic hairs but didn’t show the woman’s whole body.
“As a feminist, I found it offensive,” advertising professor Debra Merskin said.
“I hope that people don’t think we were just putting it up for shock value,” said Johnson, who with students Ben Jenkins and Jason Fong created the project. Johnson was the only group member in town to handle the controversy because her teammates were in New York for an advertising competition.

Merskin took time during one of her classes Tuesday to discuss the image because it tied into what the class was already discussing.
“At first I thought, ‘Here we go again. Another dismembered woman’s body being used to make some point or get attention,’” Merskin said. “People are going to think about what speech they value and what they don’t. It’s a wonderful lesson to see how many ways there are to look at something.”
Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication Tim Gleason said, “My original decision was to not do anything until we had time to decide an appropriate response so the students had an opportunity to get their message out. The School of Journalism and Communication is not going to be in the business of censoring student content.
“Free speech brings with it a challenge. The issue is easy to deal with in the abstract, but when something very strong and controversial is staring you in the face, it becomes a harder question,” Gleason said.
Johnson, a senior in advertising, said her group’s intent was to get people thinking about the idea that all people have births, all people die and everything in between is up to the individual. She said no one in her group knew that taping the materials to walls violated the building’s policy.
The team posted an image of a baby in a womb in the center of the bulletin board. A makeshift umbilical cord ran from the baby to a doorway that had the nude woman over it. At the end of the hallway was a tombstone. The text on the sides of the baby read: “Everyone is born, and everyone dies. What is done in between is up to you.”
Portions of the project not taped to walls remain up, and anonymous authors have written comments such as, “This is offensive and disgusting!” and someone taped a miniature version of the New Testament near the baby.
“I hope they got the idea above the imagery,” Johnson said.
Each group from Professor David “Jelly” Helm’s advanced copywriting have the bulletin board reserved for one week. The assignment was to create an installation that would provoke thought in building users.
Helm said he thought the project was a success in that it created the discussion.
“I sort of romanticize the college experience sometimes,” Helm said. “Unfortunately, there’s not enough impassioned dialogue on campus.”
Gleason said, “When all is said and done, I think this was a great opportunity for us to deal with a somewhat difficult question. It was a very startling installation. It was a healthy thing for us as a school to have to confront and have to deal with.”
Though Gleason said it was acceptable for Johnson to re-post the image of the woman on the bulletin board, she decided not to. She said the project already did its job because it started the discussion.
“A lesson I have learned is that words and images have a lot of power,” Johnson said. The human connection is “what gives ads their power.”
Helm said he didn’t personally find the images offensive. “I think it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. If anything, the team that goes next should be nervous.”