University Day could not come at a better time. During the past month our school has been highly focused on relief efforts for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Our community has responded in remarkable ways -- a memorial, student-led fund-raisers, vigils, topic-specific lectures, teach-ins and a week dedicated to race relations.
A somber mood underlies all these events -- we remember both the nearly 6,000 victims and the American soldiers preparing for military action. But what also links all these events for us is a renewed sense of our unity.
Today, as we celebrate our 208th University Day, we should recognize that the past month's campus activities have rekindled two UNC traditions -- free thinking and student unity in desperate times. In the words of our alma mater:
Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices
Ringing clear and true
The past month has been inundated with University voices, some garnering national attention. A series of three teach-ins, sponsored by several campus social justice movements, concentrated on nonviolence in the light of the attack on America. A number of conservatives, namely David Horowitz, took the opportunity to call the teach-ins un-American and labeled UNC a liberal campus. How unpatriotic of us to allow open debate and free speech on a college campus when we're only here to pick up a diploma.
Singing Carolina's praises,
Shouting N-C-U!
Praise and shouting were in evidence elsewhere this week as preacher Tom Short set up his pulpit in the Pit. What began as a moral argument over the right to judge others -- in this case Arabs, Muslims and Afghans -- quickly devolved into an anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, anti-anything-that-isn't-Christian diatribe between many students from diverse backgrounds and a preacher sponsored by Carolina Christian Life.
