Emo. Midget. Retard. Fag. These are just a few of the words submitted by Mesa State students for the Hate Wall. These are words many students have used and heard.

The purpose of creating the Hate Wall was to educate students to learn what you really are saying when you use hateful words.

James Hoover is a Mesa State freshman, political science major, and RHA Programming Coordinator who gave the Hate Wall introduction. Hoover explained some offensive terms are used “out of context due to social influence and the actual meanings of some of these words are not offensive.”

Andrea Nieto, Mesa State sophomore is the President of RHA and after the presentation of the actual meanings of a few offensive words she opened up the Hate Wall presentation to the audience to give examples or experiences they have had with offensive words or stereotypes.

Another member of the audience Luke Rice talked about being asked if he was Mexican just because he has dark features.

And with one last final action, RHA ,along side any other students who wanted to help, tore down the Hate Wall.

Some students couldn’t think of words for the Hate Wall according to Mesa State sophomore, Sierra Schwartz, Vice President of Resident Housing Association because in her opinion students are “desensitized by the use of these types of words.”

On Wednesday, Feb. 23 students gathered outside of the Academic Classroom Building where Mesa State’s Residence Hall Association celebrated diversity by giving students a free t-shirt to decorate with stencils, the word diversity, and the translation of diversity in three different languages: Hindu, Greek and Japanese along with various symbols.

While students were making their diversi-tee’s they were asked to write an offensive word or stereotype on a “brick” (a piece of paper) that would be constructed into a Hate Wall where later that day the wall would be presented and then torn down.

Mesa State freshman Blake Butterly designed his diversi-tee with the Japanese word for diversity and a huge red cross and green crown symbols after RHA staff suggested, “It’s about you and what you are about.” Butterly is a Christian and said, “Mesa State is a very diverse, multi-cultural campus.” Butterly also submitted a word for the Hate Wall and has overheard offensive words on campus but chooses to be around friends who are accepting of others and don’t use those types of words.

Another student who stopped by to create a diversi-tee was Mesa State sophomore Laura Johns. She was drawn to the table because while reading some of the information posted by RHA’s National Communication Coordinator, Autumn Mallett. It read “If the world was condensed in one hundred people…there would be 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans,  8 Latin Americans, 5 from the US and Canada, and one from the South Pacific, seven people would have access to the internet, one would have a college education, one would have HIV, 67 would be non-Christian, 51 would be male, 49 would be female…”

Johns is a Mathematics major and in her opinion, “People shouldn’t spend time judging people, they should accept people as who they are.”