Don’t get us wrong. We love UNC.
We love Carolina when the leaves are turning orange in the fall and during the first snowfall. We love our men’s basketball team when they beat Duke (twice!) and we love them during the most heartbreaking losses. We love Carolina blue, especially when it matches the sky on warm, spring days like today. We love the education we’re privileged enough to be receiving, and we love the faculty and staff that make that possible.
But Carolina has major institutional flaws. And we believe the greatest way to show your love for a place is to encourage it to the best version itself — to make it an inclusive space for everyone. Everyone should be able to find a home at Carolina.
What the Board has learned time and time again this academic year is that those in power at this institution don’t love Carolina like we do. The administration, Board of Governors and UNC Police have consistently put the needs of outside forces ahead of the students and faculty they’re supposed to be defending.
There’s only so much the Board can write about. It’s time for these institutions to be held accountable, and for them to step up and protect its students and faculty from dangers such as white supremacy before something drastic happens.
The Unsung Founders Memorial was defaced. Armed Confederate groups have walked around campus with no consequences. Confederate livestreams have brought threatening comments. With the continued controversy surrounding Silent Sam hanging over our campus, such occurrences will undoubtedly continue, and someone will — at the very least — get hurt. The University needs to take final, definitive action regarding Silent Sam and work to protect students as long as extremists who support its presence continue to pose a very real threat to campus safety.
We believe in a brighter future and a better Carolina. And we will always be here to fight for it.
