Signing construction beams is typical in the creation of large buildings like Tate II, a Campus Life director said Monday.

Don Reagin, director of Campus Life marketing and public relations, said a 22-foot steel support beam for Tate II will be available for students, faculty and staff to sign today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Tate Lawn.

Reagin said the beam will be the final steel beam set into place for the new Tate II building.

But the beam will not be implemented until late May during a topping off ceremony for the construction workers.

The beam will not be seen from either inside or outside of the building, Reagin said.

The beam is so large that it will be set out early before anyone arrived at Tate Lawn and put back into the construction site after a majority of pedestrians leave the Tate area, he said.

“Obviously this is a very heavy piece of equipment and we wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt while the beam is being moved,” Reagin said.

Nicki Batelli, Student Government Association vice president and representative on the advisory board for Tate II, said students can leave their marks on the beam by signing it with Sharpie markers.

Batelli said the board will hand out the markers to interested signers and make sure nothing offensive is written.

Reagin said the ceremony is typical in large construction projects by marking the infrastructure of the building as complete.

“After that beam is in place, the skeleton of the building is done,” Reagin said. “Then the wood beams can come down and the workers can get started on the walls of the building.”

Batelli said students should take advantage of the opportunity to leave a part of themselves at the University.

Reagin said the signing of the beam is a form of legalized graffiti and almost like a time capsule for students.

“We hope the building is there for awhile, but if in a hundred years the building is demolished, some day somebody will know we were here and we had a presence,” he said.

Sarah Khor, a senior from Malaysia, is graduating in May and said she plans to sign the beam.

“I spent a lot of my time at the SLC, but I’m sad I won’t be here to see Tate II complete. This is a way for me to leave my mark at Tate II, not just my money for it,” Khor said.