In response to 2023’s tragic fatal shooting of UNC’s associate professor Zijie Yan, Students Demand Action at UNC met with the chancellor’s office to discuss campus safety and gun violence prevention. One key demand was for Alert Carolina to be “made entirely inclusive of multiple languages” after learning that many of the staff whose first language is not English were unable to understand the alerts and continued working during lockdown. Though the chancellor’s office seemed receptive, SDA’s subsequent meetings were repeatedly rescheduled and canceled four times over the 2024 spring semester.
At the start of the 2025 spring semester, a year and a half after the shooting, the SDA executive board inquired whether Spanish or any other language had been added to Alert Carolina. UNC Chief of Staff Christi Hurt responded that they anticipate a recommendation by the end of March 2025 and efforts include benchmarking identified translation tools. While they expressed the possibility of adding languages to the Alert Carolina website, there is no clear commitment to integrating them into the alert system itself.
The use of vague language in lieu of concrete action is unacceptable. Alert Carolina must be inclusive, and the chancellor’s office must take accountability for its ongoing failure to serve UNC’s diverse community.
On Jan. 24, Chancellor Lee Roberts made an announcement further endangering UNC’s English as a second language and Latino communities. Regarding the possibility of ICE entering campus, Roberts said, “We’re going to follow the law. That’s been our consistent posture.” This commitment invites increased armed law enforcement presence and the potential for increased firearm violence. ICE arrests disproportionately target Latin American men of color in low-wage jobs — similar to those most affected by the inaccessible Alert Carolina system.
Many public school systems protect students by requiring ICE to provide credentials, a reason for access and a judicial warrant. These measures align with Roberts’ “follow the law” stance while prioritizing student safety and due process. In contrast, Roberts has granted unrestricted access to armed agencies with documented histories of discrimination and brutality. Recently, SDA voiced concerns to the chancellor’s office regarding the increased police presence — only to be met with further dismissiveness.
Last year, SDA hosted an interpersonal violence workshop featuring Quetzabel Benavides, a doctoral student at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health researching health access for Spanish-speaking immigrant communities. SDA contacted Benavides for her perspective on this issue.
She said, “Deportation, detention and removal efforts primarily target undocumented and noncitizen individuals and can contribute to declines in physical and mental health outcomes by heightening immigration-related stressors, disrupting social support and limiting healthcare access. … One step toward upholding lux, libertas could include efforts that improve the approachability and availability of UNC resources via expanded Alert Carolina language options.”
Every member of the UNC community deserves equal access to life-saving information during emergencies. Sign our petition today to ensure Alert Carolina includes multiple language options, so no one is left vulnerable in a crisis.
— Juliet Rosa and Emma Lewis, SDA-UNC co-leads for advocacy & community outreach
