TO THE EDITOR:
Most people who are born in my county of residence, Richmond County, die there; it is a simple and harsh reality. Having the sixth highest overall poverty rate in the state at 27.3 percent and the sixth highest youth poverty rate in the state at 40.8 percent, residents of Richmond County and other impoverished regions nationwide know how difficult life can be living in the uncertainty of poverty. I come from a very poor family myself, having been subjected to the possibility of homelessness many times in my life and facing discrimination based on my socioeconomic status.
Most people who come from areas like Richmond never have the opportunity to advance in life. Without the aid of the Carolina Covenant program, I, along with thousands of students here at UNC, may have had a similar fate. I have the freedom to study what I wish and go on the path that I seek in life because of the immeasurable assistance of the late Fred Clark’s program and others like it. Such programs give disadvantaged students the agency and funding to pursue their dreams. They even offer aid for funding treatment in mental illness, which offers an unprecedented aid to students in need.
Programs and organizations that assist the impoverished are crucial to a diverse and equal opportunity experience at UNC, and because of this, I can only condemn the UNC Board of Governors’ decision to close the poverty center.
David Stewart
Sophomore
Political science and medieval history
