Students stick it to Thorp’s head

A head shot of Chancellor Holden Thorp held court in the Pit on Monday, when students had the chance to scribble concerns and opinions about University issues on Post-it notes and attach them to Thorp’s face.

The comments posted on the chancellor’s picture ranged from serious (“Keep student rights to protest freely without restriction,”) to humorous (“Why are you such a silver fox?”).

Some were even threatening: “If you don’t do something about pedestrians on Cameron, I’m going to hit every person crossing the street.”

Members of the student advisory committee to the chancellor described the event as representative of the approachable, interactive environment Thorp wants to create with students in his first year on the job. They said they plan on incorporating the comments into discussions with Thorp.

Beyond seeking student input, the committee members said they hope to raise awareness of Thorp’s open house taking place 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on the third floor of the Student Union.

“It’s one of the best publicity tools we have,” Student Body Vice President Todd Dalrymple said. “The picture immediately draws attention because of the shock value.”

Most students only glanced as they walked by the picture. The event has been a familiar Pit staple since it originated with former Chancellor James Moeser.

But almost 70 Post-it notes still covered the Chancellor’s face by the time the photo was taken down about 1:30 p.m.

“This is the most Post-its I’ve ever seen on it,” said sophomore Reva Grace Phillips, who serves as executive assistant to Student Body President J.J. Raynor. “SACC has been aggressively pursuing student input more than ever before.”

Sophomore Hogan Medlin, who serves as executive assistant to Dalrymple, also talked about Thorp’s desire to hear student voices.

“Chancellor Thorp wants to reach out to every student, including those without big titles,” Medlin said. “He wants to hear all voices.”

Although he stopped to check out what was going on, junior David Peterson decided not to write a Post-it.

“I’m satisfied with what’s up there,” Peterson said. “There’s a wide variety of topics, many of them important: safety, tuition, as well as ones people don’t usually think about.”

Sophomore Samantha Ryan, a history and communication studies double major, wrote that Thorp should “get rid of the eight semester limit.”

She said she would try and go to the open house on Wednesday, but wished there were even more opportunities to meet with Thorp.

“It’s an excellent picture of the man,” Ryan added.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.