TO THE EDITOR:
For 45 years, part of the General Alumni Association’s mission has been to offer a travel program, and we take great exception to your depiction of that program in your Feb. 23 editorial.
The GAA offers about 40 trips each year, and those destinations are selected in an effort to appeal to the diversity of the UNC community, particularly those who express an interest to travel with us. Also, many of our trips are led by UNC faculty and staff and most often include an educational component, allowing our travelers to experience a range of communities, cultures and countries.
The advertising copy that you cited was prepared by Odysseys Unlimited, the tour operator responsible for the “Mystical India” trip. We have shared your editorial with them.
The GAA provides services — including alumni reunions, career services, alumni clubs, the Carolina Alumni Review and maintaining alumni records — to fulfill our mission to serve UNC and its students and alumni, and those efforts are made possible by dues paid by our nearly 69,000 members. The GAA also provides many complimentary and heavily subsidized services for alumni, students and North Carolinians. We do not solicit or collect money for UNC.
Marcie Leemore
Director of enrichment programs
General Alumni Association
