TO THE EDITOR:
Dear Carolina Students,
We write to you today in the spirit of upholding our values of diversity and inclusivity. As members of the Carolina Union Board of Directors, we challenge ourselves as student leaders that represent these values at the highest degree. It is of vital importance to us that we act as servants of our community and foster safe spaces for students of all backgrounds and identities.
In the upcoming weeks, there are events taking place across campus that we believe are in direct opposition to our mission and values. There will be moments where members of our community will unfortunately make the decision to create spaces that will promote rhetoric and conversation that divides, rather than unites, our community. As student leaders, we want to express explicitly that we do not support nor condone actions that serve to make students feel unsafe on our campus.
We recognize the importance of healthy conversation that allows for an array of perspectives and opinions. We furthermore understand the importance of facing ideas that may not completely agree with our own as a means of challenging the way in which we see the world. Nevertheless, we want to assert that this action can certainly be executed without marginalizing groups of our fellow students.
Over the past year, we have faced some difficult realities here at our university. Members of our community have engaged in the national conversation that is challenging the status quo manner in which universities have operated. Our country is evolving, and students like the ones found at UNC are leading the charge against systems of institutional racism, Islamophobia and heteronormativity. As student leaders, we join in and support our fellow students who are serving as positive change agents.
We hope that the Carolina Union can serve as a space where students can come and unapologetically be themselves. We also want students to know that they can come to the leadership of the Carolina Union Board of Directors with any concerns they may have about the state of campus life.
Finally, we want to remind students about the University’s counseling services, and encourage anyone who feels they may need to utilize this resource at any time to do so.
Let us come together, now, as a community that celebrates individual and unique differences that makes us beautifully Carolina.
