At every football game, we sing about being “Tar Heel born” and “Tar Heel bred.” Even if our place of origin isn’t the South, we become southerners here. After a few months, I’m sure students who are unaccustomed to southern hospitality will no longer be surprised when doors are held open by perfect strangers and arms outstretched for hugs replace the extension of a businesslike handshake.
I’ve lived in North Carolina my entire life, so I can sense the distinct southern flavor of our campus. After all, despite the global aspects of the school, the southern spirit of UNC flows from the waters of the Old Well.
UNC has one of the largest collections of southern historical documents in the world. About 80 percent of admitted students come from North Carolina and many of the rest come from other southern states. The term for our students, “Tar Heels,” dates back to the 1800’s. UNC is a huge contributor to southern academia and every basketball season, we remind the nation that the best athletes grow from the same soil as tobacco.
Clearly, UNC is a benefactor to the South. But it’s just one example of how the stereotypes don’t give a complete depiction of what it means to be a southerner. Sure, southern family portraits may feature rough-hewn fences and wide country spaces, hunting jackets and those iconic brown boots.
But beneath this twang scene, there’s something beautiful. There’s an intrinsic homage to strong family ties, knowing your neighbors and listening to a music genre where the same chords are dominant in each composition — and will be until Taylor Swift sings her last notes.
Yet, despite these adjustments students are making to acclimate to southern culture, we still struggle with identifying as southerners. People don’t find comfort in associating their education with the land of barbecue and sweet tea.
Instead, some mock us for our ways and insist on lingering on their non-southern customs. We’re all too familiar with the depictions of southerners on late night comedy networks. That awful mental image of “a southerner” is painted by everything from Daisy Duke’s thick southern drawl to ill-tempered rednecks waving shotguns to add power to their opinions. These are the outrageous images which make the effort to transcend the South understandable.
A study by Vanderbilt University shows only 70 percent of people living in the South consider themselves “southerners.” Researchers surveyed thousands of people across the South. The traditional illustrations of southerners have driven people living in the South away from a southern identity. Add that to the people who already don’t consider themselves southerners because of wherever they’ve originated. But that’s no reason for us to do the same.
We all chose to come here, to a southern university. And like it or not, it’s time to embrace the beloved southern platitudes. Just respect the sweet tea seeping into your taste buds.
