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The Daily Tar Heel

Opinion: The issues first-years need to know about

	Students gather around the Old Well to enjoy the snow late Tuesday night.

Students gather around the Old Well to enjoy the snow late Tuesday night.

First-years, we know it can be difficult to be aware of exactly which issues to keep up with in terms of news when you arrive on campus. You’re too busy trying to adjust to classes and college life to really pay attention to anything going on within the University and its administration. Now that you have a semester under your belt, we think there are a few headlining issues that began before you arrived on campus but are important to know and stay updated on.

Conveniently, The Daily Tar Heel has topic pages which include links to all the articles written about an issue on campus linked in one place, so you can get updated quickly. For all of the issues we reference in this editorial, we will link to its topic page. A full list of topics pages can be found here.

The issues:

Academic-athletic scandal

The NCAA's allegations are a hot topic on campus seeing as the organization has yet to make its final ruling. From around 1992 to 2010, UNC offered fraudulent classes to student-athletes and other students. After years of speculation, in 2014 the Wainstein report revealed more details on the academic-athletic scandal. The academic integrity of the University has been called into question, and recent allegations revolve around a lack of institutional control rather than academics. This will catch you up to date, but continue following the scandal to see what the NCAA decides and what consequences the University could face.

Saunders Hall/Zora Neale Hurston/Carolina Hall

In 2015, Saunders Hall became Carolina Hall. Activists had long been pushing for the building to remove William Saunders’ name because of his leadership in the Ku Klux Klan. The Real Silent Sam Coalition proposed that Saunders Hall be renamed Hurston Hall after Zora Neale Hurston, a renowned 20th-century African-American writer. Instead, the Board of Trustees chose the name Carolina Hall in an attempt to create “unity.” Many students of color felt silenced by this action as their motion for commemoration of an African-American figure of history was virtually ignored. Along with the renaming of Saunders Hall to Carolina Hall, the board put a 16-year moratorium on the renaming of any campus buildings and monuments.

Unsung Founders Memorial and Silent Sam

The Class of 2002 chose to create the Unsung Founders Memorial as the class gift to the school. The memorial is a table in McCorkle Place near the Silent Sam statue of a Confederate solider. The Unsung Founders Memorial was intentionally placed as a credit to enslaved people and under-appreciated Black people who contributed greatly to the University’s history. Complaints over people using it as a table or diaper changing station have lead to people questioning its effectiveness as a memorial. Silent Sam, meanwhile, has been a point of contention since the 1960s when people began to view it as a symbol of racism. At the dedication of Silent Sam in 1913, speaker Julian Shakespeare Carr discussed horsewhipping a “negro wench.” Many point to Carr’s speech and the rise of white nationalism in the early 20th century as proof that the statue was erected with racist intentions.

Holden Thorp goes, Carol Folt comes

Former Chancellor Holden Thorp resigned in September 2012 following severe budget cuts and academic scandals. He only held the position for 5 years out of the 20 years he had expected. Our current chancellor, Carol Folt, succeeded him in 2013 as the first female chancellor in UNC history. She comes from a family of immigrants and worked at Dartmouth College for 30 years as an instructor, dean of faculty, and a brief period as interim president.

Sexual assault

Sexual assault plagues college campuses in general, but in 2012 two survivors from UNC exposed the mishandling of sexual assault cases at the University. ‘The Hunting Ground’ documentary even featured UNC as it followed sexual assault cases around the country. The Daily Tar Heel has also filed a lawsuit against UNC to access public records regarding sexual assault cases to ensure the University is handling the accusations seriously and in compliance with Title IX. The lawsuit is still pending and there are still serious questions about how UNC handles sexual assault cases.

These issues, however, can be changed by students using their voices. There are a variety of ways you can stay involved with what’s happening on campus and enter the conversation on these issues. This is your campus and your University. Your thoughts and opinions deserve to be heard, and you should be educated on the topics surrounding the college so you can hold it to the standards you deserve.

Ways to Engage:

Black and Blue Tour (history of race at Chapel Hill):

Despite the controversy surrounding the Founders memorial in the quad and the renaming of Saunders Hall, UNC does find a way to pay tribute and recognize the contributions of people of color to our campus. Black and Blue Tours with UNC lecturer Robert Porter are available on two more dates this — Feb. 24 and April 7. The tours are given in an effort to understand the contributions of African-Americans on campus during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The University also offers two more tours exploring the perspectives of marginalized groups: American Indian Center Presents the Native Narrative and Digging in Our Heels, Angels on Campus: The Herstory of Women at Carolina. These tours are a great way to broaden your perspective of campus and understand the contributions of everyone who made UNC what it is today.

Get involved with events on campus

There are several different events and training sessions occurring on campus you can attend to ensure you stay connected with campus life and important issues. For example, UNC offers One Act training to help combat issues of interpersonal violence and sexual assault on campus. Another important event coming up is the election of our new student body president. For advocacy events, check out the Campus Y’s event calendar. The best way to change UNC for the better is to first understand how we got here and then understanding who is trying to move us forward. 

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