Student group TransparUNCy reflects on a year of teach-ins

When TransparUNCy, a project of UNC’s Affirmative Action Coalition, posted their first Instagram video on Feb. 7, 2024, co-founder Julian Taylor said he didn't expect the project to expand beyond the digital space.

“I don't think we realized we would ever have the traction to draw crowds in person,” Taylor said.

But the organization, which Taylor described as an education project, hosted 11 in person teach-ins in 2024, where they informed attendees about topics including University administration and the history of student protests on campus. 

Alexander Denza, an executive member of TransparUNCy, said the organization’s goal is to build institutional memory among students. Because most students graduate in four years, Denza said the student body as a whole isn’t entirely educated about the University’s political history.

Taylor said members of the AAC first got the idea for TransparUNCy in the fall of 2023, after the Students for Fair Admissions Supreme Court decision struck down affirmative action.

“We had to do a lot of looking inward as a group, and thinking about the other ways to fight for equity on campus,” Taylor said. 

Taylor went on to say that the group spent the rest of the semester researching equity-related issues at UNC before posting their first four videos in the spring of 2024. The videos introduced the goals of TransparUNCy and presented information about Chancellor Lee Roberts’ appointment as interim chancellor, focusing on his role on the board of conservative donor Art Pope's business, Variety Wholesalers, Inc.

Roberts later appeared at the April 4 teach-in, where he spoke about his relationship with Pope. At the event, he told the crowd he had agreed not to receive any payments for his role on the board during his time as interim chancellor.

The topics of the teach-ins have connected to political developments affecting the University, including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy changes. At one teach-in on April 16, the day before the UNC Board of Governors passed a motion to review and vote on a new DEI policy, TransparUNCy warned attendees that the BOG was preparing to defund DEI.

Taylor said the teach-ins draw in crowds of at least 60 to 70 attendees, with some hosting over 120 students.

The organization also connects with over 1,000 subscribers through its Substack, where members promote events and share articles from their student-run publication, TransparUNCy Press.

Isabel Gray, a UNC student who attended two teach-ins in the Fall 2024 semester, said she was impressed with the research that TransparUNCy does. 

The first teach-in Gray attended was about the School of Civic Life and Leadership, the University’s new school overseen by Jed Atkins. She came to the event, she said, because she was taking a class in SCiLL and wanted to hear a different perspective on the University.

The school, which offered its first classes last semester, has been heavily criticized since its inception in January 2023. That April, 676 faculty members signed a petition accusing the BOT of overreach in their creation of the school. 

“I was curious to learn more about things that aren't necessarily things the school prides itself on,” Gray said. She added that she was surprised by how much she didn’t know about the University’s history.

Denza said he views the school as the biggest threat to the future of UNC’s student body. Although TransparUNCy has not yet released information about events in 2025, he said the organization plans to focus more on SCiLL in the future.

Taylor said he hopes TransparUNCy can reach more students in 2025 and draw higher turnout at the teach-ins.

“As long as we have the capacity to inform students on what's happening at UNC, I think we'll be playing our role,” he said.

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