Students at Malvern Collegiate will have a chance to make their case for saving a wall they see as a piece of school history when they meet with their principal on Wednesday.

For roughly two decades, drama students at Malvern Collegiate have proudly etched their names on a wall in the drama office in a rite of passage recognizing their hard work.

However the school administration recently decided to paint over the signature-covered wall after discovering some offensive comments.

So students at the school launched a petition last week to save the wall. The online petition, which has garnered more than 1,000 signatures, is addressed to Superintendent John Chasty, and warns that the whitewash would ‘strip the room of its history.’

“The drama office is a safe haven for many and a home to all drama students,” the online petition says. “Please sign this petition and help us change Mr. Chasty's mind and save our drama office.”

A number of current and former students, as well as members of the larger community signed the petition and said the wall contributes to the school’s character and serves as a legacy for former students, as well as a source of inspiratio0n for current students.

In an email to CP24 Tuesday, Chasty said the wall has become “a year book of sorts” and acknowledged that the offensive comments discovered by the principal are among hundreds of others on the wall.

However he said they nevertheless have to go.

“Whatever the next steps may be, all offensive comments will be removed from the wall,” Chasty said in the email. “All of our students need to feel safe in our schools and it is our moral responsibility as educators to ensure that the school environment is a safe environment.”

He said the principal is scheduled to meet with a representative group of students on Wednesday “to determine next steps.”

In the meantime, the room remains locked.