Outside of election cycles, Northwestern’s Rock is primarily a blank space to advertise upcoming events or the sailing team’s most recent shenanigans. But on a recent Monday night, it became a canvas for opposing viewpoints and free speech, embodying the potential for unity in divisive times.

Almost a week after Donald Trump’s re-election, two friends and I were walking past the Rock when we saw two students in the middle of painting it MAGA red. A burst of panic shot up my spine. Just that morning, the Rock had been painted with reference to Kamala Harris’ concession speech: “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”

“Keep walking,” my friend Lili warned under her breath. “Don’t make eye contact.” I knew exactly what she meant. She didn’t want to start any drama. For the past few years it’s felt like any sort of disagreement ends in fuming and further splitting apart.

But something didn’t sit right. “No,” I said. “I’m curious, let me ask them what they’re doing.”

“That’s not a good idea,” my other friend cautioned. I think we all imagined that I’d be on the receiving end of vitriol, insults and aggression. But I thought there was a chance that if I approached in a non-combative way, it could be constructive, maybe I could even get them to reconsider. These were, after all, just students like me.

I walked up to these students and asked what they were doing. They said they were from the NU College Republicans club and were repainting the Rock in protest after their original MAGA message was painted over two days earlier. With that, one of the students, a senior girl, slapped another thick coat of red over the white.

The two students told us that writing MAGA was their right under free speech. Of course they weren’t wrong, but something still felt off. I knew it would push people further apart.

That’s when my friend who had agreed that we keep our heads down spoke up. He expressed to the Republican students that the Northwestern student body is in a heightened emotional state after the election and that painting the word MAGA feels like an aggressive provocation more than a simple expression of free speech.

He said writing MAGA on the Rock wouldn’t inspire people to listen or try to understand where Republican students are coming from. It’s too inflammatory. By then, a crowd of around 15 students had gathered around us. Other members of the NU College Republicans joined the group and explained how badly they’re treated on campus, the nasty looks they get and the names they’re called.

More students chimed in. Some started raising their voices and talking over each other. I could feel the conversation deteriorating. Luckily, a handful of students, including Gabriel from NU College Republicans, kept listening and encouraging people to speak calmly. They acknowledged where other students were coming from.

After about 20 minutes of listening back and forth to people’s different thoughts and opinions, my friend came up with an idea. Instead of trying to convince the two students to stop painting the Rock, what if they painted exactly the message they were trying to get across – that NU College Republicans want to feel included in campus dialogue and want their positions to be heard?

That’s when Gabriel raised the spray can, shook the last of its contents, and sprayed “NUCR 4 unity” in bold white letters across the Rock. Because the red paint underneath was still wet, the letters began to drip, creating an edgy effect. Someone joked the dripping paint could symbolize a hyper-intellectual artsy vibe.

The mood lifted. We started laughing.

The two Republican students, my friends and I all shook hands and introduced ourselves.

My friends and I walked back to our dorms high on adrenaline; we had approached the two students afraid we’d stir more division but left feeling more connected. We had been able to have a charged conversation without inflicting more hurt and repelling anyone. Our adrenaline was pumping, not from battle but from bonding. We’ve been so conditioned to expect the worst that we all wondered if we’d dreamt it. And like a dream, it was fleeting.

Thirty minutes later my friend texted to say that a left-wing student came in screaming at the Republican students at the Rock. I’m not sure exactly what he said but “unity” was crossed off and replaced with MAGA. It was the sobering gut punch of reality. It reminded me that productive engagement with people who think differently requires patience and dedication to the common good like what I observed from my friend and Gabriel at the Rock. And how easily we can revert back to the alternative, reacting out of habit and fear.

Still, everytime I walk by the Rock and see its chaotic mix of red and white and “unity” in dripping letters, I’m reminded of our flawed yet hopeful attempt at coming together one fall night. It was just a small moment but a moment nonetheless – and a microcosm of what could happen on campuses across the country if we stop walking past each other with our heads down and instead approach each other eye to eye, with curiosity and openness.

At the end of the night, we don’t all need to agree but we can share and honor different perspectives, which creates something, in my opinion, much more intellectual and artistically interesting. It's up to our generation to find a way forward that brings us together, and if that includes a can of spray paint, count me in.