It all began with an abandoned 4-by-6-foot chalkboard. 

With nothing better to do on a Friday night as seniors, two hooligans, Dusty Dangero & Dan Dusty, found themselves chalk in hand, breaking onto campus to graffiti it. Mission accomplished, they vanished again silently into the night. On Monday morning, passersby were accosted by the words:

“Speak softly, but carry a big can of paint.” — Banksy

The following weekend, they snuck back in, erased the board, and did it again. And again. And again. Twenty-four chalkboard quotes later, no one had caught the anonymous duo. In fact, curiously, the university seemed to revel in their ruffian ways, once leaving a $20 bill tucked into the chalkboard with a note of encouragement. The money was promptly spent on more chalk.

When graduation arrived, the pair left the campus chalkboard behind, but the chalky lifestyle proved much harder to quit. Though Dusty and Dan eventually went their separate ways, Dangerdust had already taken on a life of its own. And so, armed with a box of chalk and a questionable amount of optimism, Dusty kept going.