The reaction of the University to the recent events involving the Free Expression Tunnel has been good, but it could be better. Rather than questioning whether the tunnel should be here or not, we should focus on ways to make the tunnel better and find ways to promote diversity while allowing room for free speech.

The Free Expression Tunnel is a great place that evokes emotion, encourages art, and following the incidents of hate speech, opens the floor to touch on vital issues that need to be discussed. For me, it is a place to paint murals like the Kay Yow tribute I painted.

It is more than just a place to paint, though. While painting, I see parents bringing their little children through to admire the artwork. Their faces light up when offered a can to paint their own names, and sometimes sheepishly, the parents ask if they can as well. It is a place where your voice can change the world or at least make a few people think.

One of the greatest traditions at the University, the Free Expression Tunnel, we care enough about it that we have the Ram Roast to keep those students down tobacco road from painting it Smurf blue before the big game. We should have more events down by the tunnel and encourage

more people to express themselves, and have a little bit of fun. Maybe new freshman can paint it red during Wolfpack Welcome Week, or paint it pink annually to honor Kay Yow and people fighting breast cancer.

Unfortunately though, every once in a while, people come along and try to ruin great traditions for everyone else. As we have seen it can be students, or nonstudents. So how do we prevent situations like these? One way is to shut down the Free Expression Tunnel, which will do nothing to stop hate speech. Another way is to take decisive actions to promote diversity, promote discussion, and limit the reach of further painted hate speech by painting over it as quickly as possible. 

In order for this to work, the people will have to police themselves to an extent, but the University must also do its part. The University should monitor the tunnel every morning before students head to class. If hate speech is found, it can be quickly removed, and we can keep this great tradition alive.

Most importantly, we should not let these low-class acts ruin a great tradition. Instead we should use it as a platform to produce more and better traditions. We should use acts such as these to promote healthy discussion regarding race and to inspire us in the fight against cancer.

We should take what is negative and make it positive. So far we have had a great response, but we could take it a step farther. Are you going to let these actions ruin a great tradition, or are you going to use them as inspiration in the fights against racism and breast cancer?