Housing plans follow-up programs after Black Lives Matter poster was torn down in Granville

As he was on his way to class Tuesday morning, resident adviser Cj Alfonso found an unexpected blank space in the bulletin board he assembled two days before.

Alfonso had hung up a Black Lives Matter poster addressing misconceptions about the movement on the seventh floor of Granville Towers West.

He was hurt and surprised to find the poster crumpled up in the trashcan.

Alfonso took the poster to his room and posted pictures on his Snapchat story. Fellow resident adviser Tyler Sharp tweeted the pictures, which have now been retweeted more than 400 times.

Alfonso said he hoped the poster would inform his predominantly white hall about the purpose of the movement.

“Being in this environment, we forget the struggles that minority groups like the African-American people face,” Alfonso said. “I thought that I wanted to be a voice here in Granville Towers.”

Out of the about 60 first-years Alfonso oversees, he said there are no black students and very few minority students.

“I wanted to expose them and make them aware of things going on — the struggles that people face and why this movement’s going on,” he said.

Allan Blattner, director of the Department of Housing and Residential Education, said the department filed a police report and doesn’t know who vandalized the board.

“I mean, clearly, this is not just tearing any bulletin board down,” Blattner said. “There’s some potential symbolism behind that.”

Samone Bullock, a junior public policy major who is black, said she learned of the incident when she saw Sharp’s tweet. Bullock said she had two reactions: she was not surprised, and she was angry.

“This is another example of how UNC and students at UNC continue to devalue black lives,” Bullock said. “We really have got to do better.”

Alfonso had a discussion with his residents Tuesday to talk about the incident.

Blattner said there will be follow-up programs in Granville to give residents a place to express their feelings and opinions.

“I want them to know that they’re not alone in their feelings of disillusionment and hurt and that we think this act is just as deplorable as they do,” Blattner said.

Taylor Bates, president of the Residence Hall Association, said the incident reiterated the importance of addressing social justice.

Alfonso said he’s going to make a new Black Lives Matter bulletin board.

“It’s a statement to say, ‘If you continue to try to undermine it, it’ll just come back better and new.’”

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