On main campus around noon today, students might find themselves surrounded by a cheering crowd, singing and dancing students and a group of runners that includes Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt.
The planned flash mob is part of the statewide Race to the Ballot campaign to encourage people to vote against N.C. Amendment One, which would constitutionally define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The campaign was created by Jen Jones, the communications director for Protect N.C. Families, a LGBT rights group organized in response to Amendment One.
Jones began running across the state with a media team in January to raise awareness about the harms the group says the amendment would cause. By the time they complete their trip from Asheville to Wilmington in March, they will have traveled 322 miles and visited more than 20 cities.
Today’s flash mob plans to create a path from South Building to the Pit for Jones, Kleinschmidt and others to run down.
Stephen Bishop, a member of the UNC Coalition Against Amendment One, said he thinks the flash mob will draw attention.
“We’re just trying to be as loud and obnoxious as we can,” he said. “It’s going to gain a large crowd of people just staring and watching trying to figure out what’s going on.”
Then “Amendment One: The Musical,” written and produced by UNC sophomore Rachel Kaplan, will be performed for students in the Pit around 12:20 p.m.
“I’m hoping they’ll like it or at least just watch it even if they don’t agree with it and learn more about the amendment,” she said.
