Students divided on ‘Cedar the Beater’ stickers:

Stickers calling a University of Memphis art professor a ‘beater’ are sprouting up on walls, doors and book bags across campus. 

The black and white stickers read ‘Cedar the Beater’ and have an image of Cedar Nordbye, an associate professor in the Communications and Fine Arts College.

Nordbye was arrested during one of his classes by Campus Police and charged with domestic assault in February. The stickers appeared shortly after The Daily Helmsman reported on his arrest.   

The stickers were created by Ethan Delgado — a graphic design major and former student of Nordbye. 

“I don’t know if he knows that I’m the one that’s making them,†Delgado said to the Helmsman. “A lot of students have seen me passing them out, so it’s possible he already knows. I’ve given them to a lot of people.† 

Delgado said he doesn’t have a grudge against Nordbye. But, Delgado said he was outraged by what Nordbye said about his arrest. 

“His quotes were so ridiculous,†Delgado said referencing the Helmsman article. “After what he’s done, he tries to come off as if he is standing on some principle, but this time he can’t.â€Â 

The stickers bring to light a divide in the creative college. While some students are proudly sporting the stickers on school gear and condemn the professor, others are saying the stickers go too far and border on a type of bullying. 

Even the artist behind the stickers seemed torn about Nordbye. 

“He’s not the typical professor,†Delgado said. “He talks to students in a casual way. He’s actually a really great teacher, which makes this all the more tragic.â€Â 

Nordbye did not know who was producing the stickers, but said he would like to talk to them. He said seeing the stickers has not been easy.  

“It hurts,â€Â Nordbye said. “I walk across campus and it doesn’t feel like my campus anymore. I feel like I need to hide or something. I feel like this breaches rules, at least breaches ethics. I’d rather have a meaningful conversation with that person.â€Â 

         Nordbye said he admired the guerrilla-style, artistic statement and the motivations, but he also said the artist had a superficial understanding of a complex personal situation.

“It’s not attacking the issue of domestic violence. It’s just making a scapegoat,†Nordbye said.

Nordbye also said he did not think that the Helmsman should write a story about the stickers because it would promote bullying. 

“Let's say there was an incident of bullying going on where someone targeted a particular student — here at the university — and they made stickers about them. And then put the stickers up all over. Would you reproduce them? Would you write a story about it that exacerbated the pain of the person who is dealing with it?â€Â Nordbye asked the Helmsman. 

Some art students agree that calling Nordbye a beater crossed a professional line. 

“Oh God,†Ivy Edwards said, a 20-year-old studio art major, when she saw the sticker. Edwards has taken several classes from Nordbye and said he was her advisor.

         “I think people need to stop talking about it because none of them knows what happened. Everyone is putting this stigma on him,†Edwards said. “If he actually beat her, he would own up to it. I don’t think he would be trying to defend himself, and he definitely wouldn’t be here right now.â€Â 

“Seeing these stickers has to be really emotionally fucked up for him,†she said. “A lot of people complain about him because he is weird, but Cedar has always been so kind.â€Â 

Graphic design major Catherine Knowles, 22, said she thinks the stickers go too far. 

“I’ve seen them around a lot. They are kinda harsh. He already got the front page of the Helmsman,†she said. 

Knowles also said the stickers target Nordbye on a different level. In 2014, Nordbye was accused of vandalism after he was caught placing business-card sized signs that read, “The University of Memphis is not a business.â€

“I think the person who did it probably used stickers because Cedar likes stickers,†Knowles said. “It might have been a counter to that. There were a bunch of different things Nordbye used to stick around campus.† 

The artist behind the “Cedar the Beater†stickers said he has not stuck them anywhere on campus except his book bag, but he said he’s handed them out to a lot of students. 

Whitney Justine, 22, studio arts and photography major, said she put anti-Nordbye stickers on her laptop. “It’s everybody’s right to speak up about it,†she said. “I’m not a big fan of his already, but what made me mad was how he responded when questioned for The Daily Helmsman. He seemed to have a victim complex. It’s almost like he didn’t realize the gravity of what he did.â€Â