Ponce de Leon is dead.
The Spanish conquistador's death knell has been scribbled onto the backs of at least seven chairs in Turlington Hall along with announcements that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened and someone named Will was at one time present.
Students in Weimer Hall's Gannett Auditorium attend the "University of Flopida," according to the sign on the lectern, while students at Library West publicly bemoan their lack of friends, lack of sex lives or lack of knowledge of organic chemistry on the study carrels and tables throughout the library.
Though most of the vandalism is minor - a fraternity name here, a heart and initials there - it has accumulated over the years.
"I think expression is essential," said Cary Putnal, a 24-year-old philosophy junior.
Sometimes it can even be helpful or inspirational.
Chairs in Little Hall boast math theorems, and Putnal said a running debate on chaos and control can be found in a men's bathroom in Matherly.
He's also found the line "All power to the imagination" scrawled on a bathroom stall in the Reitz Union.
"There's a big distinction between creative graffiti and ignorant, mindless stuff," said Steven Kanner, a 20-year-old environmental science junior.
Others, like economics major Matthew Schaler and mechanical and aerospace engineering major Kyle Gooding, both 20-year-old juniors, think the "mindless stuff" can add a little something to a class, even if it's just a smile.
Stuff like a supply-and-demand graph on another Matherly bathroom stall analyzing the cost of, well, whatever's produced in a bathroom stall.
Curtis Reynolds, assistant vice president of the UF Physical Plant Division, said there aren't any routine checks for vandalism of campus buildings.
Signs and desks are replaced once they are no longer functional and on an as-needed basis, he said.
Reporting those types of incidents is the responsibility of the college or department that owns the building. Reynolds said if an act of vandalism is considered to be particularly defacing or debilitating, the University Police Department should be notified before the Physical Plant.
He said he's not aware of much vandalism on campus, and there haven't been any recent incidents that have required police involvement.
"I think the students who come to our university take a level of pride in their campus and their facilities," he said.
Found in Turlington Hall, this declaration is an example of vandalism found across campus.
