The announcement came during the Student Voices and Social Justice Student Body President Forum hosted by the UNC Campus Y, Black Student Movement, Carolina Hispanic Association, Sangam and the Residence Hall Association.
Candidates Kathryn Walker, David Marsh and Houston Summers agreed that Saunders Hall, which is currently named after former KKK leader William Saunders, must be renamed for the University to move forward. The “Kick Out the KKK” movement has rallied for the renaming several times this semester.
“The University community is about enlightenment. That means listening to people, raising ideas that you don’t agree with and criticizing your own,” Walker said.
Marsh said he was surrounded by diversity when he attended public school in Charlotte.
“I had people who had other backgrounds, people who lived off of food stamps, people who had single parents, people who didn’t know where they were going to get their next meal from,” Marsh said.
Marsh said he wants to make it easier for students with similar backgrounds to find each other and open up spaces for student groups to meet within the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs.
Summers said he plans to incorporate advocacy efforts into student government to bring campus together.
“We propose a minority working group to address these issues — to find out what holds back individuals from low socioeconomic status, what holds back students from different colors, different creeds and different races,” Summers said.
