Campus Covered with Love, Hate

When students arrived to campus on March 17 they were greeted with multiple signs with love and hate written on either side; these confusing elements added to the scene around campus were courtesy of Virginia Tech’s Baptist Campus Ministry.

The signs placed around campus are an effort by BCM to create conversations about love, hate, preconceived ideas and past experiences. The organization hopes that these conversations will break down barriers and open up the lives of the Virginia Tech community to a new and more genuine faith.

The signs took the students of Virginia Tech by surprise. In first response, most students believed that the signs were political in nature rather than religious.

“The range of reactions and assumptions is heartbreaking in instances and intriguing in others,” said BCM assistant director Melissa Cheliras. She continued to say that even some of the BCM students remarked that the signs reminded them of political posters.

Cheliras said that the love/hate signs are just phase one of a larger project. So while students will not know how the concepts of love and hate will appear on their campus next, they can be sure that BCM’s mystery and creativity will not end with these signs.