Many artists have found public areas to be the perfect canvas to display their graffiti or street art to the wandering public eye, but a college campus is not the place for this vandalism to make its mark.

Recently, we have noticed an increase in the amount of graffiti incidences in the police reports.

VSU prides itself on having a beautiful campus, but when an anonymous person decides to leave a tag, no matter how small, that beauty is scarred. While the anonymity of the act makes it hard to place the blame, anyone who sets foot on this or any other campus should have enough respect to not deface it.

Many people work very hard to keep this campus as clean as possible. When someone decides to spray another unoriginal stencil or immortalize themselves in the form of some sharpie fume-induced scribble vomit, guess who gets called?—the custodial and maintenance crews who are paid by the very fees that empty our wallets each semester.

So what’s the point? Either a “street artist” can spend the time and money, not to mention the huge risk of being caught, and have his or her “art” displayed for everyone to gawk at for a limited period of time, or that same person could spend his or her money on a canvas and have his or her pieces immortalized for as long as he or she pleases.

Another solution could be for the university to implement a “free expression wall.” Some colleges across the country, including North Carolina State and University of Florida, have designated certain areas as “free expression zones” where students practice their first amendment rights and say what’s on their minds.

Until VSU puts something like this into action, which is probably doubtful, we should take pride in our school and its campus in keeping it graffiti-free. Not everyone enjoys that sweet stencil you banged out in 10 minutes of your initials embellished across two stars, or whatever.

You are not Banksy, and even if you were, VSU is not the place for your spray paint hijinks.