HENRICO, Va. — A local high school’s decades-long tradition has stirred up some conversation. A mural of presidential candidate Donald Trump was painted recently on the senior wall at Tucker High School in the West End.
The tradition stems back decades. The senior class decides what they will paint along three walls in a school courtyard. The structure is in an interior courtyard that isn’t visible from Homeview Drive or Parham Road.
The administration just makes sure the chosen idea is “decent.”
Still, word must have spread out from the courtyard and some folks reached out to the news, upset that the principal approved the mural.
Donald Trump mural at Tucker High school
One viewer wrote that “It has caused quite a stir on campus where the minority population is offended and there are even talks of vandalism.”
A school spokesperson pointed out that the painting is an example of students exercising their freedom of speech and expression.
The mural itself even claims that the students are not endorsing Trump.
The quote next to Trump’s likeness reads “If you’re going to be thinking, you may as well think BIG.”
Few could honestly say that Trump has done anything other than “think big.” He has built a Trump business empire and emerged as the sole Republican candidate in a 2016 presidential bid that many critics initially said would not be successful.
Henrico County Public Spokesperson Andy Jenks said the two students responsible for that particular mural began painting over it this afternoon. He said that was their decision.
“The school leaders were prepared to let the mural stand, as they would have done for, say, a mural depicting the Democratic nominee,” he wrote via email.
As of now, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is the only presidential hopeful without a mural in the Richmond-metro area. Two Bernie Sanders murals were painted on the old Sea Dream Leather building in the 3300 block of Broad Street.
