In times of struggle, the most important teaching occurs outside the classroom walls.
Luckily, our University has no shortage of brave faculty who are willing to lend their expertise, time and voices to the most contentious issues facing our campus. This board would like to recognize the swelling number of faculty who have spoken up and organized around the fate of Silent Sam and the Center for Civil Rights.
By writing and speaking about social justice, faculty give students the tools to make thoughtful arguments and help us understand the broader implications of what’s happening on campus.
John McGowan from the comparative literature department, Jim Leloudis from the department of history, Fitz Brundage from history and others have written pieces in The News & Observer and Vox.
In addition to individuals sharing their opinions, faculty collectively are speaking out — the Faculty Executive Committee passed a resolution stating their concern over the Board of Governor’s proposed policy to close the Center for Civil Rights.
On Wednesday night, Lloyd Kramer led a panel of experts in a community discussion at the public library about Silent Sam and the history of Confederate monuments. With a diverse panel of speakers ranging from the Chapel Hill chief of police to some of our campus’s most active academic leaders, the panel was a chance for community members to ask questions and share their reflections on recent events.
The mobilization of faculty in light of recent events has occurred across departmental lines.
While this board is particularly impressed by the activism of the humanities, we would also like to commend the actions of faculty in health affairs and other areas of the University not typically associated with activism.
The tenor of Wednesday night’s panel suggested that most people in the Chapel Hill and the campus community believe that Silent Sam should come down. But we often disagree on why and how it should come down. The legal and logistical details behind Silent Sam and the Center are being discussed behind closed doors.
