TO THE EDITOR:
When I walked by a Daily Tar Heel stand on Sept. 19 and saw a picture of the North Carolina Central University student body president, I was confused.
Why was a story about NCCU on the front of my school newspaper? How and why did this story make the front page? The article, “Tradition in transition,” explained how budget cuts to higher education have negatively affected the enrollment rates at historically black colleges and universities. I appreciate the DTH’s effort to include diversity in the paper, but it didn’t tell me why I, as a UNC student, should care.
What about the abysmal black male retention rate at UNC? What about the students, regardless of race, who have had to drop out of school because they can’t afford UNC’s tuition?
Not only was the article irrelevant to its audience, but it also did not provide any context as to why HBCUs, when compared to predominately white universities, are more heavily affected by budget cuts.
For someone hearing about HBCUs for the first time, after reading this article, their first impression would be that all HBCUs are poor, dirty and old, and that is an unfair representation.
My biggest qualm with this article is the DTH felt the need to reach outside of the university to include “diversity” in the newspaper. Not once since I’ve been a student at UNC have I seen a front-page story in the DTH about a black UNC event, student or organization. There are plenty of stories happening on campus that highlight diversity. The DTH should make an effort to tap into this diversity.
Diversity is not just slapping a story about black people on the front page of the paper. What’s more important is making a connection to that community.
By not making this issue relevant to UNC, the writer only sheds light on an issue that affects “them” (HBCUs), thus adding a plank to the fence that should apparently be built between Durham and Chapel Hill.
