Web site creator to keep student secrets in Union

Frank Warren has been called the most trusted stranger in America. As a man who has… Frank Warren has been called the most trusted stranger in America. As a man who has personally listed his home address on both his Web site and the cover of his first book, Warren, creator of www.Postsecret.com, may also be the most trusting.

To promote Warren’s upcoming lecture slated for 8:30 p.m. Feb. 5 in the William Pitt Union, Pitt Program Council Lecture Director Ramma Barakat supplied students with colorful paper, markers, glitter, paint and glue to make their own “secret” postcards in the Union Tuesday afternoon.

What began as an experimental art project for Warren has recently snowballed through word-of-mouth popularity, frequent citing on Internet blogs, three published compilations and the postcards’ feature in an All-American Rejects music video.

Through his Web site, Warren encourages anyone and everyone to mail him a postcard designed by the sender, confessing a hidden secret.

“Each secret can be a regret, hope, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation,” Postsecret.com says.

“Reveal anything as long as it’s true and you have never shared it with anyone before.”

Barakat said she got the idea to invite Warren as a guest speaker when she saw people around campus reading his book. Since scheduling Warren, the PPC has held three card-making events for students in the Union and Art Gallery.

“In the art gallery, we had over 80 people come in to make cards throughout the day,” Barakat said.

The postcards were collected at each event and are scheduled to be displayed in the Connie M. Kimbo Art Gallery beginning Jan. 22 and ending the night of Warren’s lecture.

Collecting the cards at the end of the day, Barakat said, “Some of them are funny, some are serious and a lot are about love. I’m actually surprised how personal some are.”

The subject matter of the postcards are as varied as their graphics.

“I wanted to die, but God saved me,” reads one, while another says, “Being gay sucks.”

Arriving to make a postcard of her own, Alison Despines said “I just picked up The Pitt News and read about [this event] and thought, ‘Are you freaking kidding me?!’ This made my day.”

Despite the ever-increasing number of postcards Warren receives, he reads and keeps them all, so if anyone sends a postcard to Postsecret.com, rest assured the secret’s safe with him.