UWM “Pen Guy” Pushes for Peaceful Preaching

From fan pages to Halloween costumes, one local legend has inspired a near cult-like following among campus visitors and is now engrained in the UW-Milwaukee community.

Eric Slawyk, who may be better known as the UWM Pen Guy,  uses free pens and scripture verses to help positively promote his Christian agenda on campus.

Although his motives may be controversial to some, others believe that Slawyk has become a relevant example of spreading religious beliefs in a passive and peaceful manner, contrasting with recent campus visits by fear-driven religious groups.

Students like KJ Paque believe that “the Pen Guy sends a good message even though others might not agree with the way he thinks.”

Slawyk, a former UWM student, started his mission small by giving away a few pens and uttering the simple phrase, “Jesus loves you.” After being inspired to spread the message of his beliefs in his own unique way, Slawyk started buying pens in bulk and began attaching slips of paper with Christian gospel messages. Many years later, Slawyk continues to sacrifice his time and earnings in the pursuit of reaching the spiritual sides of those at UWM.

Slawyk feels that spreading his message through something as simple as free pens is an effective and less controversial way of displaying faith compared to other religious groups that have recently visited campus and called some groups of people names.

When asked about what he would like people to know about him, he said, “I’m not as weird as I look sometimes; I actually do have a normal job, and I live with my wife in West Allis.” He said that his ability to multitask allows him to balance out work, spending time with his wife, and spreading his unique message.

Recently, certain Christian groups have received negative controversy from UWM students by preaching about sinning, displaying photos of dead fetuses to protest abortion, and using young children to guilt bystanders into paying attention to their message.  Slawyk commented that Christian groups with more aggressive agendas related to sinning and condemnation are “as far from the gospel as what a Muslim is preaching, or a Mormon, or an atheist for that matter.”

As a former atheist, Slawyk has been on both sides of the spiritual spectrum and understands the occasional confused reactions from bystanders. Slawyk’s trademark question, “Would you like some free pens?” has led people anywhere from dismissal to engaging in deep philosophical conversations with Slawyk.

It seems that no matter what you believe in or where you go on campus, “The Pen Guy” will be there with some pens and a prayer, and he’s far from over with his peculiar journey.