TO THE EDITOR:
I have tried to respect silently the opinions of those protesting the University's potential acceptance of money from my family's charitable foundation, the John William Pope Foundation.
While I still respect the opinions of those protesting, I can no longer remain silent.
I attended the protest on the steps of Wilson Library on Monday and read the articles in The Daily Tar Heel and The (Raleigh) News & Observer on Tuesday. There is one discrepancy that I feel should be resolved immediately.
To be clear, the University originally approached my father and my grandfather in the hopes of an endowment. They told the University that they would consider making a contribution, through our family's charitable foundation, if a proposal for a Western studies program were submitted.
I then learned that a small group of professors and students were protesting the University's decision to accept money from my family, saying we obviously had a conservative agenda.
I am outraged that professors would seek to deprive the very students they are here to teach by encouraging the University to refuse the money and refusing to teach courses if the donation were accepted.
They are simply encouraging the kind of closed-minded thinking and ignorance they seem to pride themselves on being above.
They are doing the very thing they are so fond of accusing my family of: limiting students' academic freedoms. It is hypocritical, petty and childish.
