Students may have seen two weeks ago that the eastern bridge of Raider Walk was covered in positive messages, all written in chalk and filling up the popular passing period area.

In an effort to remind students, faculty and passerbys of the power of positivity and to stem the tides of hatred, Seamus McLean, a 19-year-old graphic design major, along with a couple of his friends, carpeted the concrete surface of Raider Walk in colorful chalk messages on Nov. 22, just two weeks after the conclusion of the 2016 election year.

McLean says he was so fed up with with seeing the deluge of hate speech, imagery and stories, especially after seeing a swastika spray painted at Adam Yauch Park, a children’s park in New York dedicated to the founding member of the Beastie Boys. After seeing that image, McLean wanted to instead provide positive imagery for others to see and connect with.

“I got the idea when I saw a photo of sidewalk chalk that read ‘We’re queer, we’re here with you,'” said McLean. “I’m queer so that’s why it resonated with me so much.”

McLean wanted the messages from him and his friends to be as friendly and clean as possible.

“I did it in chalk because I didn’t want it to be graffiti,” McLean said. “I wanted it to be as inoffensive as possible.”

One of McLean’s friends who helped in scribing the messages, an 18-year-old Theatre Arts major who’d rather not be identified, tried to make certain all the messages were positive and lighthearted.

“We were pulling up song lyrics that we were like ‘Oh this sounds nice,'” the friend said. “Our goal was to make sure that nothing sounded aggressive, to make sure that it wasn’t too political. [Things like] ‘Be happy today!’ and ‘Smile!’ and stuff.”

McLean’s friends were on campus late at night, around 11 p.m., working on rehearsals for the “Student One Acts” when McLean arrived with the chalk.

“[McLean] had a bucket of new, un-opened chalk and he’s an artist, so I didn’t really question it,” the friend said. “It probably took an hour, but half of that was spent with us ducking and being scared that raccoons were teachers that were going to get mad at us.”

Above all, McLean’s drive was to make sure students knew the world was still a secure and affectionate place.

“I know how terrifying messages like that can be to oppressed people, so I wanted to do something that counteract that,” McLean said. “Whoever might have been made afraid by the hate speech, I wanted to make them feel safe and loved.”