Katy Drennan

CL311

March 25, 2004

This piece of graffito was found in the women’s restroom stall in Case Center at Skidmore College. The text is easy to read, and there are no accompanying images. The message was written with a red permanent marker on the aluminum door of the stall. It says, “Class of 08 Best,” although “of” is missing in the photograph because of poor lighting in the restroom. There are no letters missing, but one might expect to find “ ‘08” and not simply “08,” for the apostrophe denotes the shortened form of the year 2008. Upon first glance, this looks as if someone at the college is expressing his or her allegiance with the class of 2008, presumably this person’s graduating year. Assuming as much, we can figure that the author of this graffito is a student of some kind. He or she, however, is not currently a student of Skidmore because the youngest class presently attending is 2007. Knowing this, the student must have been a visiting high school student, either interested in attending Skidmore, or visiting a sibling or friend that already attends Skidmore. This piece of graffito is not at all a complete sentence. Missing both articles and a verb, it must have been scrawled on the door quickly or without care.

Why is this written in the bathroom stall at Skidmore? Being an academic institution, this message could be easily interpreted as a reference to the academic class of 2008 by anyone who happens to use this particular stall. The author of the graffito is singing his or her praises concerning the class of 2008, and is drawing the graffito’s audience’s attention towards younger students who will eventually grace the college with their presence.