Committee established to determine Campus Y building usage

This summer, Chancellor Lee Roberts appointed a new committee to examine the usage and governance of space in the Campus Y building.

The Campus Y is UNC's largest public service student organization, consisting of three separate entities, UNC Y— a department within Student Affairs, the Campus Y Student Organization and the Campus Y building itself. 

The committee, comprised of 15 alumni, students and faculty, will be tasked with providing recommendations to the chancellor on building usage, including operating hours and access. 

Chaired by chancellor emeritus James Moeser and former Board of Trustees chair Richard Stevens, the group is scheduled to meet each Friday and deliver a final report by Nov. 1. 

Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld, a professor in anthropology and former Campus Y co-president during the 1986-87 year, said that the Campus Y has many continuities through its history. 

“It is a broadly supportive place to help students who have a vision of positive social change,” Colloredo-Mansfeld said. “I found that to be true then in the 1980s, and I find it to be true in the 2020s.”

Additionally, Colloredo-Mansfeld said that the Campus Y has allowed students to pursue many different kinds of projects that span from service work in communities to social justice activism.

Last semester, UNC administration temporarily closed the Campus Y days after the shutdown of the pro-Palestine encampment on Polk Place, before reopening the facility under revised partial hours. Stevens said there were concerns over the closure of the Campus Y and that the administration is taking a more comprehensive look at the usage of campus facilities by different groups. 

“We were told at our first meeting that there are over 900 recognized student groups, so the process of how space is reserved for meetings for various groups is certainly important,” Stevens said.  

The committee includes individuals from various backgrounds, such as representatives from Student Affairs, the University Counsel and Facilities Services. 

While the committee will determine the building’s highest and best use over the following weeks, Stevens said, after the first meeting on Aug. 2 there are no plans for administration to close the Campus Y building again. 

“Everyone talked about the historical significance of the space,” Stevens said. “One of the students talked about how a number of students consider this as a safe place. We talked about the uses it has had over a long time from 1860 to 2024.”

Co-president of the Campus Y Sari Ghirmay-Morgan said while they were not originally named to the committee, they were appointed shortly after its establishment due to the advocacy of Yalitza Ramos, director of the Campus Y. 

Ghirmay-Morgan said their role on the committee was important in answering questions from a student perspective. 

“I think Ramos’ advocacy for students has opened up an avenue for my voice as a Campus Y co-president to be heard in a committee that's making extremely important decisions,”  they said. 

Ghirmay-Morgan said it has been more difficult to reserve space at the Campus Y, especially via the 25Live reservation portal, saying that the new reservation system provides an access barrier since it is only available to students listed as members of registered student organizations. 

According to information on the ReserveCarolina website,  individuals must complete 25Live training before they can submit a reservation request.

“I do think that it creates more barriers to accessing that space on an individual level and to certain committees that may not be registered student organizations necessarily, but a part of the Campus Y nevertheless,” Ghirmay-Morgan said. 

Ultimately, Colloredo-Mansfeld said that the Campus Y has maintained a distinct mission throughout generations to be a launching pad for the formation of creative organizations.

“The building itself has been central to that mission,” Colloredo-Mansfeld said. “Whatever changes are contemplated, this committee and the University need to understand the need of the organization for space to sustain the mission.”

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