By Ava Geaniotis

How do you express what justice means to you? 

If you ask the Panthers who participated in the Criminal Justice Club’s most recent event, they might say, “Use chalk.”

The Criminal Justice Club’s Chalk-Up event was hosted outside of the University Center on Sept. 21, 2026. This year, the theme was “Justice for All.” It was the first time the club hosted the event since 2023.

Clubs, departments and classes signed up in advance to create chalk art from among themes provided by the Criminal Justice Club such as LGBTQ+ rights, immigration and refugee rights and voting rights.

“We wanted to bring the community together to talk about important issues today,” said sophomore criminal justice major Mackenzie Rutkowski, the president of the Criminal Justice club.

Students were encouraged to use their imagination to create chalk art that visually expressed what justice means to them, inspired by the movements that speak to them the most.

Criminal Justice Club public relations and event coordinator Gianna Ehrmann works on a chalk drawing.

Art by the Criminal Justice Club focused on animal cruelty rights which means a lot to Rutkowski. “[Animal rights] means equality and taking care of animals that don’t have a voice,” Rutkowski said.

Senior neuroscience major Khushi Gaur and senior finance major Tayef Hossain came to the event to represent the South Asian Student Association (SASA). Gaur is SASA’s vice president, and Hossain is their event coordinator. Their club chose to emphasize immigration and refugee rights. 

Khushi Gaur (left) and Tayef Hossain of SASA hold chalk and inspiration for their art.

“As a club, we focus on cultural aspects of our people, which definitely ties into immigration as a big part, as our parents are all immigrants and they came to America, so I would say it’s a big part in our lives,” Hossain said.

He added that they planned to create chalk art that said “Freedom for All,” incorporating signs of various religions and backgrounds to welcome everybody.

Professor Stephanie Lake founded the Criminal Justice Club in 2005, and now she is the organization’s staff advisor. She said that this year was the 15th time they hosted Chalk-Up.

“We’re really proud of the Criminal Justice Club students for having the energy and the determination to get this done,” Lake said.

Following Chalk-Up’s hiatus, students felt that its images were moving and they wanted to bring the event back. “They’ve been talking about it for a couple years now, and they just went ahead and made it happen,” Lake added.

According to Lake, the goal for the event is “to get students out and creating images that represent what they feel are the most important issues facing us today when it comes to justice.”

Junior history major Elizabeth Manton said, “It’s a very moving day. It’s very fun, but it’s powerful as well.”

Manton is the vice president of the Criminal Justice Club. She added, “If you’re familiar with our club, we do the Take Back the Night and the Clothesline Project initiatives.”

“The Criminal Justice club is open to anyone that wants to talk about important issues and bring awareness,” Rutkowski said.

The Criminal Justice Club executive board poses with chalk drawings.