CORRECTION: A previous version of this article started that Montia Daniels and Patrice McGloin's platform for their run as Campus Y co-presidents was titled "We will not be silenced." The correct name of the platform is "Our voices will not be silenced." The story text has been updated to reflect the proper campaign title, as well as the article's headline which had the incorrect name. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for these errors.
UNC junior Montia Daniels and sophomore Patrice McGloin are making history as the Campus Y’s first Black female co-presidents.
“As Black women, we know that we're often vulnerable to lots of different forms of oppression, and lots of different things on this campus that we're vulnerable to,” Daniels said. “So, we've thought about that a lot, and thinking about how we can make an impact and how we can really make a change and a difference in this community while also having our marginalized experiences in mind.”
The two women titled their platform ‘Our voices will not be silenced’ to highlight their commitment to being authentic to themselves and their experiences — as well as and helping others feel that they don’t have to restrict their own story in any way.
“Many people on this campus feel like they're not seen or heard, and we finally have a space to show that like, 'No, it doesn't matter what the previous structures have been, this is what's happening now,'” McGloin said. “We are so firmly rooted in the people that supported us through all of this. I'm just very excited to open that space up and give back to them to really have voices heard that don't normally get to.”
Daniels and McGloin said they want to continue to grow and open the Campus Y community by fostering more vulnerability and transparency among members.
“We're trying to re-emphasize the fact that we’re people first, and that this work is based on people who are flawed and need time and need space and have vulnerabilities," McGloin said. "And we want to acknowledge the entirety of the person who's doing this activist work."
McGloin said social justice work is both exhausting and rewarding, so being transparent and vulnerable will be important for them.
The incoming co-presidents also want to continue work on racial equity within the Campus Y community and the UNC community as a whole. Daniels cited the work of other organizations that are building community rooted in anti-racism and equity.
