When Alec Dent — a UNC freshman and writer for The College Fix — claimed the first-year seminar, “English 72: Literature of 9/11,” presented terrorists in a sympathetic light despite not being enrolled in the course or even reading any of its assigned books, that was bad.
When media organizations broadcast Dent’s claims without mentioning readings in the course honoring those lost on Sept. 11, that made matters worse.
But the most unfortunate moment of last week’s spectacle was when the UNC College Republicans, along with the Carolina Review magazine and Christians United for Israel at UNC, started a petition asking Chancellor Carol Folt to condemn the course, saying the readings “desecrate the...victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.”
The College Republicans later posted on Facebook about Dent, who recently joined the organization, and the national attention his article received.
“All of America now knows that there is a class here that presents literature justifying the terrorists who committed 9/11,” the post said.
If there is one thing I detest most about our culture, it is the sharp political division that has engulfed us as a result of biased media outlets, parties and their supporters trying to prove their side as superior.
All sides — right, left and in-between — spin items to fit their agenda, distracting even engaged citizens and leaving us with less clarity.
It is a world I unfortunately took part in as a member of the Carolina Review for the last three years. At one point, I even argued this university went out of its way to deter conservatives from being active in campus conversations.
But as I became more informed, I learned that is not the case. Despite a few questionable instances, there is not enough substantial evidence to prove universities overall are trying to restrain conservatism.
