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Emory still buffeted by storm over Trump chalking

Some in support of Trump has Emory University up in arms. A Trump supporter wrote messages in chalk on the campus last week. An opponent apparently added “STOP” in front of “TRUMP 2016.” Photo by Bill Torpy

Credit: Bill Torpy

Credit: Bill Torpy

Some in support of Trump has Emory University up in arms. A Trump supporter wrote messages in chalk on the campus last week. An opponent apparently added “STOP” in front of “TRUMP 2016.” Photo by Bill Torpy
By Ty Tagami
March 31, 2016

Donald Trump is so controversial that even his name, written in chalk, can spark outrage.

Emory University President James Wagner has been caught in the hurricane that blew over the campus after an anonymous author scrawled “TRUMP 2016” messages. Stories and blog posts, many of them belittling, covered Wagner’s attempts to placate students who felt threatened by the chalked messages.

He responded with a chalked message of his own after a backlash against a perceived sacrifice of free speech to "safe" speech.

Find out more about Wagner's efforts to calm the storm, and the effect it's had on one of Georgia's best-known institutions.

About the Author

Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.

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