Outside of the Upper School at the West Entrance, the senior rock is covered with paintings created by the senior class each year. This year, a senior painted the phrase, “Jesus Loves You.” The rock was originally gifted to the school by the Class of 2004. In the past, there have been many paintings referencing religion. In the past, the Star of David and also the phrase “God did” have been on the rock; however, this time, there has been a conversation to remove it.
The school is non-sectarian, meaning not restricted by religion. This involves finding balance when it comes to religious pluralism. “We are trying to find the balance of how we recognize how important religion is to our particular students without forcing or advocating for a specific religion,” mentioned Director of OECE Amber Buck. “We need to do more for religious pluralism.”
The senior who painted the message on the rock, Marcelo Mena ‘26, stated his motivations for the “Jesus loves you” message on the rock: “I think it’s important now in this day and age to start talking about Jesus more.” He continued, “People could call me crazy, call me. whatever they want, but I believe that is a good message.” He understands the precedent it sets in religious expression, allowing people to express any religious message they believe in. Regarding the conversations over the removal of the statement, he said, “I’ve not been involved in those conversations.. I would be willing to be involved in those conversations.”
Student Body President, Raiden Chen ‘26, who participated in the facilitation of the project, noted that once he brought up a resolution before it happened, saying how “[they could] just add onto it and like put other maybe figurines or like other religious symbols. So it’s more inclusive.” However, “in the end, we decided to paint over it and [write], we love you, and we’re not exactly sure what happened, but by the next morning, by the first day of school, [it said] Jesus loves you.”
Sosie Simon ‘26 believed that keeping this mural is a good move since it seems that doing otherwise would both make it seem like the school is actively trying to remove such statements and shed important light on highlighting the school’s commitment to pluralism. Greta Guider ‘27 stated, “[the rock isn’t] an implication that applies to students or that it is representative of Blake’s values specifically. It’s just a student who believes strongly in the[ir] faith.”
The conversations around the rock’s meaning and the school’s commitment to religious pluralism are ongoing. Maren Anderson, on behalf of herself, Sarah Warren, and the grade deans, stated, “The statement… [on the] senior rock is a really wonderful opportunity to work with… our student body as well as our administration to discuss how we support religious expression… in support of our commitment to pluralism at Blake.”
