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Denny Kaney of UA Facilities Management uses a pressure washer to remove paint from the Senior Walk on the Old Main lawn. The cost of cleaning the mess created by a paint war between UA Greek organizations is expected to total between $1,000 and $3,000, said Mike Johnson, director of Facilities Management. The organizations will be billed for the damages.

Paint war between Greeks damages UA Senior Walk

By: Pamela Acosta

Posted: 10/19/07

After about 32 hours, the paint from a paint war organized by several student organizations is starting to come off Senior Walk on Old Main lawn, a representative from Facilities Management said.

Three Greek organizations - Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Delta Delta Delta and Kappa Delta - conducted a paint war Friday afternoon on the east side of Old Main lawn over the top of the Senior Walk, said Mike Johnson, director of Facilities Management.

After the war, the sidewalk and the grass next to it were covered in multi-color latex paint.

The cost for the cleaning is still uncertain, Johnson said, but he estimated that it would be in the range of $1,000 to $3,000.

"I was extremely upset," Johnson said. "I believe it's irresponsible to do something like that, especially on Senior Walk. There's a time and a place, and that was not the time and place to do what they're calling a paint war."

The organizations will be billed for the amount of the damages.

A police officer discovered the site Friday night, "but he didn't notice the extent of the paint," said Lt. Gary Crain, UAPD public information officer.

Besides the area, there were droplets of paint stretching from Old Main lawn to Ozark Hall.

Monday, a staff member from Facilities Management called the department to report the problem.

The paint war is a Greek life tradition, said Parice Bowser, associate director for Greek life.

It's normally done in one of the fraternities or sorority houses or a grassy area.

"We are looking into it, and it's possible that they're going to be sanctions," Bowser said.

It was also discovered that some participants of the paint war sat in the Greek Theatre with their clothes dirty, leaving paint, Johnson said.

Facilities management will try to clean off the paint from the theater with pressure hoses. If some of the white paint comes off the theatre seats, retouches will be necessary, he said.

The Facilities Management crew cleaned the area with ecological-sensitive materials and pressure hoses.

"We believe we'll be able to clean it up, but it's going to take some time," Johnson said. "And we have to be careful with the groundwater shed."

The Senior Walk is also being protected by using lower pressure, he said.

At first, the cleaning crew was concerned the paint would get into the names and on the pores on the sidewalk, but that was not the case, Johnson said.

Cleaning started sometime Monday or early Tuesday. About three people worked on the sidewalk four to five days for about eight hours a day, Johnson said.

The crew was still cleaning Thursday, and they hoped to be done by that afternoon or by the end of the week, he said.

The organizations were not involved in the cleaning because facilities management wanted to start the cleaning as soon as possible to ensure the paint was removed. The names of the participants were not available Monday when the cleaning started, Johnson said.

"We didn't know who they were and we wanted to get on it quickly," he said.

But the decision and what those sanctions would be are still unclear, Bowser said.

The organizations will be accountable and responsible financially.

This is not the first year that the paint wars were held on Old Main lawn. The problem this year was the damages caused to Senior Walk, Bowser said.

"The main problem, I believe, is because it damaged a tradition," she said.

"I definitely believe the organizations should be held accountable."

The three organizations were in the area and therefore responsible, even though other chapters participated in the event.