As students of UNC, we live in our own little bubble, with the University as the focus of our lives. But UNC is not Chapel Hill. It is only a part of the community, and the only part we really deal with on a regular basis. We don’t know the local issues. We don’t know the local politicians.
We have a stake in immediate action local issues, but, aside from alumni pride in our alma mater, the consequences of local elections will not affect us as most of us are only here for four years. We are visitors here and have a responsibility to be good guests in the Chapel Hill community.
Let the locals decide their future. They know better than us the needs of the town and those who inhabit it.
But this is not a call for UNC students not to vote at all. Rather, it is a call for us to vote in the communities that need us most: our hometowns.
We are at one of the best universities in the nation thanks to our parents, teachers, friends and countless others who put time and effort into turning us into UNC students. We have a civic duty to repay those who gave us so much and put us where we are today. The best way to do so is to bring everything we’ve learned at UNC back home.
This is especially important for in-state students. Too often small towns send their best and brightest off to college only for them to never return. It is the tax dollars of North Carolina citizens that pay for our university, despite the fact that the vast majority will never directly reap the benefits of UNC’s existence through attending the school. Which is where we come in play.
We are the connection between the University and the public, and it is through us the public sees a return on their investment. Those in our hometowns gave their money to help us become good, educated citizens in the hopes that we would use the lessons we learn at UNC to make their communities better. And there’s no simpler way to do so than voting.
With early voting and absentee ballots, it's never been easier for us to help out our hometowns. So, make your voice heard, but do so in a community where you are invested in the outcome, and, even more importantly, in a community that invested in you.
