Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture and Carolina Performing Arts collaborated to host the concert.

This year's Tracks Local Music Fest featured five artists: Anne-Claire, Dissimilar South, Treee City, Austin Royale and BANGZZ. Each artist performed a 30-minute set with a short break in between each set.

Marketing and Communications Coordinator Melissa Bartoletta said Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture has a mission to inspire creativity and celebrate community for a better Chapel Hill.

"We curated the lineup to feature a diverse selection of artists from the collection, a diverse selection of sounds," Bartoletta said. "So we have pop, electronic, Americana, hip-hop and punk showing up on the lineup."

Dissimilar South, an Americana music duo who performed at the concert, is composed of Carter Hodge and Maddie Fisher, who met when they were attending school at UNC.

Hodge said the two of them have been making music together for the last six years and putting out music for the last three.

"Since graduating, we sort of reoriented," Fisher said. "Our original other two members left and so that's sort of when we kind of started on this trajectory of prioritizing music and trying to incorporate that into a part of our daily work."

Hodge said Dissimilar South has two records out. Their EP Treehouse was released in 2019 and is available to listen to on the Tracks Music Library. The duo recorded their most recent album, Tricky Things, with Grammy-nominated producer Jason Richmond.

Now, Dissimilar South is focused on touring their new album regionally with a full band.

"I think it's kind of envelope-pushing for a public library to venture into the world of digital music, and so when they decided to do a live event, we were super enthused to participate in that because we like the setup and the organization," Hodge said.

Anne-Claire Cleaver, who goes by the stage name Anne-Claire, is a singer-songwriter raised in the Triangle and currently living in Durham. She said she has been writing and performing since 2014 and got started in music during middle and high school, where she was involved with choir and musicals.

Cleaver attended UNC Greensboro to study music and began writing her own material upon graduating. She also owns her own voice studio called Anne-Claire Voice, where she gives virtual voice lessons to clients around the world.

Cleaver said she was glad that Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture and Carolina Performing Arts organized the music festival.

"They're taking it one step further," she said. "They're taking it outside of the library, and that's great. I just think that's such a novel idea, and they're clearly investing in something that they really believe in."

All of this weekend's performing artists are featured in Tracks Music Library, a free local music streaming platform provided by Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture and Chapel Hill Public Library. The aim of Tracks is to support local artists and bands and introduce listeners to new local music, and new music is added every year.

The library gives listeners the ability to stream commercial-free, curated music from over 100 Triangle-based artists free of charge. Additionally, Chapel Hill Public Libary cardholders are able to download music or save their favorite tracks.

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com

North Carolina basketball didn't enter the Big Dance as a one-seed, as it has 17 times in its vaunted history. Dreams of reaching national championship heights in April seemed out of reach before the new year even began - as the Tar Heels haven't been ranked since December.

And as has been the case all year, few fans were allowed into Mackey Arena to support the blue-blooded program in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

So by the time the eighth-seeded Tar Heels suffered an 85-62 loss to nine-seed Wisconsin on Friday, disappointment was far from rare.

"This was a hard year," head coach Roy Williams said. "When you coach kids you have a special bond with them, and this year was really hard on young people. I was really proud of them."

Indeed it was a hard year for the Tar Heels. Entering the season with seven first-years in the rotation, a shortened offseason meant recovering from a 14-19 campaign last year was a tall task. Those seven first-years experienced little in the way of normal college life, and at times, it looked like there wouldn't be a season at all.

"It was really tough," senior forward Garrison Brooks said. "It was just a lot different. But I'm still very grateful. Still had a lot of fun with our guys, you see how hard we worked to get to this point. You've just gotta be grateful for times like this.

"Everybody dedicated themselves to one goal and you see how far we got."

But when it came to basketball, this year was yet another unusual one in the Tar Heels' two-year struggle to regain their dominant ways. There were moments, like UNC's run in the ACC Tournament - setting records in its demolition of Notre Dame and sliding past fellow NCAA-qualifier Virginia Tech to advance to the semifinal. In the regular season, North Carolina swept crosstown rival Duke, which despite the Blue Devils' own struggles, felt just as sweet as ever.

But by the time March rolled around, the Tar Heels had earned themselves the rarest moniker for a blue blood program: mediocre.

Straight-down-the-line, average.

Entering March Madness, UNC sat smack in the middle of the tournament field as an eight-seed in the 16-team South Region.

"Each year you get to be a better coach and you get to be more experienced yourself," Williams said. "Someway, somehow I've got to do a better job of getting the guys to make changes. And 29 games and I'm still saying a lot of the same things, so I've gotta figure out a way to make that happen."

The highs and lows of North Carolina's season were on full display against Wisconsin. After a slow start, a solid UNC run tied things up at 16 in the first half, showing signs that the Tar Heels' best side could be coming out in the most important moment. But then, the mistake-prone thorn in the Tar Heels' side reared its head.

With under two minutes to go in the opening frame, UNC was down by an unideal, but manageable, eight points.

Then, Wisconsin's Brad Davison hit a 3-pointer. And knocked down two free throws. And sent another three barreling through the bottom of the basket.

A few ugly offensive possessions from the Tar Heels didn't help the matter, and they went into the break down 16, North Carolina's largest halftime deficit in the NCAA Tournament since the 2008 Final Four.

Two bad minutes, and UNC's season was all but over.

"I think it came down to stops," first-year guard Caleb Love said. "We didn't get any stops, really, and on the offensive end, we were just all out of sorts. We didn't get a lot of great shots on the offensive end. I think what we needed on a night like this was to get more stops to create offense for ourselves, but we couldn't do it."

Normally, the first weekend of March Madness is a celebration for North Carolina. One filled with anxiety - but the anxiety of a team with title aspirations, looking to roll through lower- and middle-tier opponents on the way to the Sweet 16.

But this March, it was different.

"I'm so proud of our kids for going through this, and it wasn't nearly as much fun as it's been in the past," Williams said. "You love having an experienced team in March, but I loved having my team regardless of what grade they were in."

@zachycrain

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

With the spring semester approaching, Carolina Housing expanded its isolation and quarantine dorms to include Craige and Horton. Now, both students who are exposed to and have a positive test for COVID-19 will be housed in the same buildings.

Executive Director Allan Blattner said Carolina Housing is moving away from using Parker Residence Hall for COVID-19 housing but will continue using Craige North.

"Folks who start off with us in quarantine and then end up with a positive test, so they need to stay for isolation, they're going to be able to stay in their same room," Blattner said.

Blattner said this change was made so students do not have to make the move between buildings while sick.

"Thankfully, most of our students are asymptomatic," Blattner said. "But some of our students are feeling pretty sick and pretty crummy, and that's hard to have to make that move."

In order to take maximum precautions, Carolina Housing also has a new set of protocol for utilizing and sanitizing facilities in the isolation dorms. Only one person at a time will be able to use elevators and the laundry room, Blattner said.

"We're really trying to put all the right mitigation techniques in there," Blattner said. "We're going to be providing wipes and those kinds of things in each of those areas, so when students are done they can wipe that down. Regardless of who was there before or who comes after, it's a safe environment for that student to be in."

Additionally, students in isolation will now be able to pick their meals through a daily survey.

"(The daily survey) was something that came through in the feedback was that students wanted a little bit more granularity," Blattner said. "They want to be able to have a little more choice in meals."

In order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at the start, students living on-campus will take a re-entry test and be required to get tested twice weekly.

Carolina Housing is taking the following precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in residence halls and isolation/quarantine dorms:

• Single-occupancy rooms in all residence halls across campus.
• One person limit in elevators, laundry rooms and other shared areas in the isolation/quarantine dorms.
• Single-occupancy bathrooms in isolation/quarantine dorms.
• Meals will be delivered directly to students dorms in isolation/quarantine dorms.
• Sanitation products provided in shared spaces for students to clean area after use.
• Reported complaints in any residence hall buildings will result in an appropriate (virtual or socially-distanced) follow up meeting to address the complaint.

Blattner said every student who applied for housing by the Nov. 15 priority deadline received a spot on campus.

"We had fewer applications than we had bed spaces, so everybody who has applied so far will be able to stay with us," Blattner said. "From this point forward, it's first come first serve."

First-year Troye Curtin tested positive for COVID-19 and was moved from an isolation hotel to quarantine housing during the fall semester. Curtain said he believes exposed and positive testing students should be kept separate based on his experience.

"I definitely think kids with a positive COVID test should move to different dorm, and then positive and negative be separated," Curtin said. "I believe that kids would not really follow the rules if they had COVID but were housed with kids who didn't have COVID."

First-year Ryan Phillips sees the benefit of this new plan, but said he still has concerns.

"I think that it's a spatially pragmatic plan, but it could definitely lead to more positive cases," Phillips said. "I understand why they may have to do it, but in my personal life and in overall plans I feel that taking maximum precautions is key."

Some students who applied for housing in the fall did not reapply for the spring semester. Phillips said he decided to stay home both semesters in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"I understand why people do need to go, because of home situations and internet access and all that sort of thing," Phillips said. "But I do think that, since I live in a situation where I don't have to face any of those difficulties, I'm going to maximize my safety."

university@dailytarheel.com

The program, discussed at a Board of Trustees meeting last month, is set to open three COVID-19 testing locations on campus starting next semester. Students will be able to self-administer a noninvasive nose swab test, a shift from UNC's use of saliva testing in the fall.

Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz announced the Carolina Together testing program in a campuswide message on Nov. 23.

The three testing sites will be located at the CURRENT ArtSpace on Franklin Street, the Student Union and Rams Head Recreation Center.

Undergraduate students who are living on campus or in Chapel Hill or Carrboro or are taking in-person classes will be required to test once prior to returning to campus. Graduate students, faculty and staff are not required to test prior to arrival.

How often students will need to test during the spring varies:

• Students having in-person classes, living in residence halls, living in the area with 10 or more people or staying in Granville Towers must test twice a week.
• Students taking remote classes and living off campus in Chapel Hill or Carrboro must test once a week.
• Graduate, professional and post-doctoral students who teach, take classes or do lab work on campus must test up to once a week, with an exception for graduate students in programs where daily symptoms are monitored.

Staff and faculty who are accessing campus, as well as remote graduate students, are allowed to voluntarily test once a week. Staff and faculty members working remotely are not included in the program.

Results will be available within 48 hours from a lab being built in the Genome Sciences Building, Dr. Amir Barzin, medical director at the Family Medicine Center in Chapel Hill, said at the BOT meeting.

"It should take no more than two minutes for someone to come through and register themselves for their test, administer the test and then walk out of the testing center," Barzin said at the meeting.

UNC will join other universities across North Carolina that are employing the same preventative measures to lower COVID-19 case numbers among students, such as Duke University, which began mandated regular testing for students in the fall.

Gabriela Duncan, a junior interdisciplinary studies major, said she believes if a testing program had been implemented in the fall, the semester likely would have turned out differently.

"It wouldn't be as much of a disaster," Duncan said. "We wouldn't have been the joke of the nation for a couple of weeks if (UNC) actually would have had testing."

To Duncan, regularly testing is nothing new. Since the fall term started, she has tested at the Union every Monday afternoon. She said the process was seamless because it coincided with her daily errands and took roughly 5-10 minutes.

Duncan said she has never received a positive test and that she typically got her results back in 24 hours.

"I did it every week just to be safe," she said. "I have been seeing my friends, but I also don't know who they've been seeing and I don't want to put anyone in danger."

However, Duncan said she doesn't trust the University to carry out the process because of the way it moved classes online after a week of in-person instruction in August. She said the process might be hard to enforce if testing lines are long or during exam periods.

"I don't know how they would enforce this," Duncan said. "I think a lot of students are doing this just for the well-being of the community, but I doubt that, after a bit, people are going to take it super seriously."

Guskiewicz said in a statement that he hopes to forge a strong bond with the community at UNC this spring.

"This past year has presented challenges no one could have anticipated, and we know our community looks to the University's leadership to set a course toward success," Guskiewicz said. "We have learned a great deal, and I recognize there is work to be done." 

Elena Fernandez, an international student from Spain, said the mandatory testing policy eases her concerns of possibly moving to Chapel Hill early next year. She and her parents were concerned about the prospects of moving after what happened in the fall.

"If you don't get tested all the time, there's no way to know," Fernandez said. "I think getting tested is the only way to make sure things are going well."

She also feels getting tested on campus is more accessible because the service is free to students. In Spain, Fernandez is required to pay $150 in order to get tested, so she never did because she rarely left her house during the pandemic.

"Making it free is a really good way to encourage people to get tested," she said.

Alexis Harper, a junior public relations major, has gotten tested twice during the fall. She feels a mandatory testing program in the fall could've improved the semester overall.

Although she feels UNC's testing program is a step in the right direction, Harper said the resulting factor and success is still in question.

"There's no way to really tell what's going to happen with 2020 or whatever 2021 brings," Harper said. "I am excited that they are starting to take measures to hopefully correct the mistakes we made in the fall."

@Heidi_perez02

university@dailytarheel.com

What happened?

Much like what transpired in last week's Maui Invitational, the Tar Heels got off to a slow start, missing their first six shots of the game. Conversely, Iowa, a team that entered the contest averaging just under 100 points, made seven 3-pointers before the under-12 timeout and led 25-13.

Although UNC slowly chipped away, Iowa's CJ Fredrick and Joe Wieskamp simply wouldn't miss. They chipped in 16 points and 12 points, respectively, and each made four shots from deep before the half to make sure the Hawkeyes entered the intermission leading, 43-31.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Tar Heels looked like a completely different team. They flipped the switch and raced out to an 8-3 run that featured three ferocious dunks before the Hawkeyes, now only leading by seven, called a timeout.

The following 10 minutes were a back-and-forth affair, and North Carolina momentarily took the lead, 68-67, with less than 10 minutes to play. However, Iowa rediscovered its shooting prowess on the next several possessions and went on a 14-0 run to lead, 81-68.

Once the Hawkeyes regained the lead, they did little to relinquish it while holding on for a 93-80 victory.

Who stood out?

With a 13-point, six-rebound statline in just 14 minutes off the bench, first-year big man Day'Ron Sharpe was the gas that fueled the Tar Heels. He jumped passing lanes, crashed the glass and even flashed shooting potential by knocking down a mid-range jumper. His energy was infectious, which allowed the game to remain competitive throughout the first half.

Despite being labeled as questionable with an ankle injury, senior forward Garrison Brooks was dependable, scoring 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds.

Iowa was led offensively by redshirt senior guard Jordan Bohannon, who scored 24 points with seven 3-pointers.

As the AP preseason national player of the year, Iowa's Luka Garza struggled to score early, but in the second half, his presence inside and on the glass made him every bit as advertised as he finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

When was it decided?

After trailing by as many as 16 points early in the first half, it seemed like the Tar Heels were ready to get run out of the gym. Once the second half began, the contest completely shifted, and with under 10 minutes to play, a series of lead changes left the game hanging in the balance.

However, Garza started to dominate inside, and Iowa quickly regained control. The late 14-0 run was enough to put the pressure on UNC, and the deficit was too big to overcome.

Why does it matter?

The loss gave the Tar Heels their second consecutive defeat, both against ranked teams.

For a team that features six first-year players in the rotation, each game gives this group invaluable experience for the ACC competition that lies ahead. During the Tar Heels' run early in the second half, the unit established an offensive identity as a team that can play inside with the frontcourt and also knock down jumpers from outside, something they had been lacking early in the season.

When do they play next?

Following the postponement of the Dec. 12 matchup against Elon, UNC will have an extended hiatus before traveling to Cleveland to square off against Ohio State in the CBS Sports Classic on Saturday, Dec. 19. The Tar Heels will look to avenge their lost from last season in which the Buckeyes soundly defeated them, 74-49, in the Dean Smith Center.

@nelsonhunter_

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

Reparations for African Americans

The BOCC passed a resolution by a vote of 6-1 in support of reparations for African Americans, Black people and descendants of slaves in the Orange County community. Commissioner Earl McKee voted against the resolution, citing uncertainty in the costs of the resolution and its amendments.

The resolution states Orange County apologizes for its role in the enslavement of Black and African American people and commits the BOCC to work toward the elimination of racial bias, individual racism and structural racism.

"This is the anniversary of the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States," Price said at the meeting. "Here we are, decades later, still dealing with the repercussions of slavery."

The resolution also calls on North Carolina to take a more active role in enacting policies to begin the reparation process and the federal government to implement policies that eliminate the racial wealth gap, establish a program to provide a universal basic income and increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour or higher.

"A resolution like this is really important to remind us of American history and how it was built on the exploitation of people, especially African American people and people of African descent," commissioner Jean Hamilton said at the meeting.

The resolution helps fulfill the Orange County Social Justice goals of fostering a community that rejects oppression and inequality and enables full civic participation. Read the full resolution.

Newly elected and re-elected commissioners

The BOCC's newly elected commissioners, Jean Hamilton and Amy Fowler, and re-elected commissioners Renee Price and Mark Dorosin each took their oath of office earlier on Monday in closed ceremonies.

The board voted Renee Price as the new chair of the board and Jamezetta Bedford as vice-chair.

"I want to thank the Orange County community for giving me another four years to serve," Price said at the meeting. "I look forward to working with my colleagues on this board, thank you again."

The BOCC recognized and commended former BOCC Chair Penny Rich and former commissioner Mark Marcoplos for their service to Orange County during their time on the board.

Public outcry over Buc-ee's on I-40/85

Multiple Orange County residents brought up worries about the new Buc-ee's development on Exit 161 on Interstate 40 during the public comments section of the meeting. Orange County residents said the gas station would disrupt the rural, natural landscape of Efland.

Buc-ee's, a popular Texas-based gas station, received approval from the Orange County Planning Board in November. It would require 104 acres of Orange County property to be rezoned, and the proposed location is directly on top of an Upper Eno Protected Watershed.

Tim Spruill, an Efland resident for 21 years, said at the meeting the existing zoning preserves the rural character of Efland.

"While allowing some development, it protects Efland from the extreme effects of massive, totally irresponsible and totally inappropriate development such as Buc-ee's with a litany of environmental and traffic problems," Spruill said.

The BOCC will vote on its approval on Dec. 15.

@sarahgraybarr

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com

One more test for the North Carolina football team to prove it has arrived - no longer a plucky upstart or a team floundering under the sudden weight of expectations after years of losing. One more chance to firmly declare that the Tar Heels are here, they are real and they are to be taken seriously.

They just need to beat a top-10 team for the first time in 16 years.

"We're getting better in every area. The question is, are we ready to beat a top-10 team or not? We thought we might be against Notre Dame, we weren't," UNC head coach Mack Brown said during a press conference on Monday. "So Miami's playing as good as Notre Dame now - they've improved so much from last year, they've improved so much since their Clemson game, it doesn't even look like the same team."

Last year's win against Miami was the announcement to the world that North Carolina football might be real. Bad losses and an up-and-down season followed, and the win looked less impressive in hindsight as the Hurricanes faltered for the rest of the season.

This year, Miami has returned to form, sitting at third in the ACC behind perennial College Football Playoff threat Clemson and newcomer Notre Dame - if it weren't for the COVID-19-adjusted schedule and conference, the Hurricanes would be planning their trip to the ACC Championship game right now.

With the Tar Heels set to face off against Miami on Saturday, a win would go a long way to positioning North Carolina as a team that truly has arrived on the national stage. The Tar Heels took the first step last year, reclaiming an above .500 record, and followed it up this year with wins over ranked opponents (No. 19 Virginia Tech and No. 23 N.C. State), but as Brown said, they need a win over a top-10 opponent.

"The process and building a program, or rebuilding a program, is first you got to win at home," Brown said. "And then people say, 'Well, you can't win on the road.' Then you got to win on the road. And then next they say 'you can't beat a top-25 team.' Well, you got to do that. Then the next thing is they said, 'Well, you can't beat a top-10 team.' Yep, well, then you got to do that. And then you got to win the championship. So you've gotta win all the games. And until you do that people are never happy."

The Tar Heels, much like their Saturday opponent, are improved from last year, already reaching the seven wins they accrued in 2019 with one less game scheduled. The defense is still suspect at times and has been hurt by an attrition of players' injuries, but the red zone offense, one of the few places that needed improvement, has mostly been shored up.

"We're doing a few things different down there in the red zone that are helping us, we're doing a better job up front running the football down there that's helping us, so I think between the staff and the players having a better plan and those guys executing has been really the big reason why we are better than the red zone in comparison to last season," offensive coordinator Phil Longo said.

If there's been one thing to write on a chalkboard and draw a circle around to illustrate what UNC needs to improve on, it's been stopping mobile quarterbacks. Jordan Travis, Brennan Armstrong and Ian Book have all burned the Tar Heels in their three losses this season, and Miami's D'Eriq King is set to do the same unless something changes soon, and quick.

"I think the key thing is to try to limit the big play opportunities for him, and see if he can make throws accurately over and over and over again," defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said.

King will likely be the final test UNC has against a truly great player on a top-10 team. How the Tar Heels respond to that test will tell the world whether they are for real or not.

@bg_keyes

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

What's new?

• Members of the commission discussed updates on the Barbee Cemetery Project, which seeks to research the history of the people the Barbee family enslaved.
  • Assistant Dean of Students Dawna Jones andAssociate Professor in the Department of American Studies Seth Kotch are the leads for the project. They said they have contacted other universities who have completed similar projects.
    • "UVA has done a lot of digging around the legacies of enslavement on their campus, some of which include cemeteries where enslaved people are buried," Kotch said. "They gave us some great food for thought on the University community's shared sense of reckoning around the site."
  • Jones and Kotch said they have plans to contact other archaeologists who are doing similar work.
    • "There is an extensive amount of research already done on the Barbee Family," Kotch said. "One of our jobs is to pull together a collage of this information to put it in one place."
  • Commission member Danita Mason-Hogans hopes to expand the project to other cemeteries in the Chapel Hill area.
• The commission also discussed recommending the removal of the name of Morrison Residence Hall, named after Cameron A. Morrison.
  • The Board of Trustees named this building to honor Morrison, who served as governor of North Carolina from 1921-1925.
  • Morrison organized and led vigilantes called the Red Shirts in an 1898 white supremacist campaign.
  • Morrison actively supported Jim Crow laws until his death.
  • The commission voted unanimously to approve the dossier as its next recommendation to Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.
  • After the recommendation to the chancellor is made, an ad-hoc committee appointed by the chancellor reviews the recommendation before it is put to a vote by the Board of Trustees.
  • Jim Leloudis, co-chairperson of the commission, said he is unsure of what the renaming process will be.
    • "I believe an advisory committee has been assembled on what that policy will look like, but it is not entirely clear," he said. "At some point in the near future, the trustees will lay out a process for renaming buildings, and what (the commission's) role will be is not clear either."

What's next?

• Jones and Kotch will continue their work on the Barbee Cemetery Project.
• The commission plans to present another building renaming dossier by spring 2021.

For previous coverage of the commission, click here.

@llaurmccarthy

university@dailytarheel.com

The local parenting group fundraised more than $10,000 to feed hungry students. Food distribution began Dec. 1 and will continue throughout the extended break.

Each of the 25 participating students receives multiple nutritious meals per week from Vimala's Curryblossom Café.

Tiz Giordano, who helped organize the project, said they became concerned how the tumultuous semester would affect vulnerable students when the University first switched to remote learning.

"There're a lot of people that come to college and it is kind of a protective place for years where they can get health care, food and resources," Giordano said. "So we assumed there were young people that needed that extra support."

Giordano formed a Local Parents Supporting UNC Students Facebook page and invited members of the larger Mothers Club to join. In September, the group distributed care packages to students staying in the Chapel Hill area.

After becoming more acquainted with the needs of students, Giordano said the group decided to focus on supplying nutritious food during the break.

They said disruptions to the academic calendar can be especially difficult for students who struggle with food insecurity because meal plans, often paid for by scholarships or financial aid, do not apply.

Giordano said these difficulties are amplified by COVID-19 due to increased isolation and economic uncertainty.

Because the fall semester was condensed while the spring semester was delayed, Winter Break is over a month longer than previous years. Giordano said students have expressed how the support helps them get through the difficulties of the break.

Many of the participants reported job loss, delays in accessing unemployment benefits and Medicaid and other hardships.

Lynne Privette, who also helped with the project, said the group's goal was twofold. In addition to feeding students, the parents wanted to support local businesses.

Both Privette and Giordano said Vimala's Curryblossom Café was a clear choice to provide the meals. The owner, Vimala Rajendran, pays her employees a living wage, has a history of activism and is well known in the community for her policy to serve everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Giordano said the decision was also personally significant as they benefited directly from the restaurant's motto: "When Vimala cooks, everybody eats."

"When I was in my 20s and food and housing insecure, Vimala's 'everybody eats' program helped me have access to healthy nutritious food many times when I didn't have money for food," Giordano said.

In addition to collaborating with Vimala's, the parents worked with Brandwein's Bagels to host a fundraising night that contributed 15 percent of proceeds to the project. Alex Brandwein, the founder and owner of the recently opened bagel deli, said he was grateful to be asked to contribute.

"Part of our mission statement is to be an active and supportive business in this community, and that's what's made this so much fun," Brandwein said.

He said fundraisers can also help foster community and benefit the local economy.

"It works both ways," Brandwein said "By having these events, I think it also brings people out to support small businesses."

While the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Mothers Club continues to distribute meals throughout the break, the group is also looking to continue similar work in the future.

"We hope to be able to continue to do more in the spring when everyone comes back, whatever that looks like," Privette said "But we just kind of take it one project at a time."

@Jacob_M_Andrews

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com

What's new?

• The Faculty Council, led by Chairperson of the Faculty Mimi Chapman, began its meeting in a closed session to discuss honorary degrees and awards.
• Educational Policy Committee Chairperson Melinda Beck presented a resolution to amend the guidelines for course syllabi.
  • Changes include requiring student support services like Accessibility Resources and Services and Counseling and Psychological Services to be clearly included.
  • The Faculty Council voted and accepted the resolution.
• University Librarian Elaine Westbrooks presented University library updates.
  • "During this pandemic we are incredibly busy," Westbrooks said. "Our interactions with staff, students and faculty have increased 67 percent."
  • Core library services will continue to be provided.
• Following this, Employee Forum members joined the meeting.
• Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Bob Blouin discussed plans for the spring semester, emphasizing the new robust asymptomatic testing program called the Carolina Together Testing Program, which includes re-entry and weekly testing.
  • "Approximately 20 percent of our classes are currently planned for in-person instruction, compared to about 35-40 percent that we started the fall semester with," Guskiewicz said.
  • Every undergraduate student must provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test prior to reentry for the start of the spring semester.
  • All undergraduate students living in the Chapel Hill and Carrboro area must be tested at least once a week and many students, like those with in-person classes or on-campus housing, must be tested twice a week.
• "We had an untested playbook to start that fall semester and it certainly had some challenges," Guskiewicz said. "But we've learned from that and we now have a much more tested playbook that we're confident about."
• Blouin outlined the key differences between the fall and spring semester, which include single-occupancy campus housing and mandatory reentry and surveillance testing.
  • The University will build its own COVID-19 testing lab facility in the Genome Sciences Building by January, Blouin said.
• Dr. Amir Barzin further outlined how the University will handle testing procedures and implement its new program.
  • There will be three UNC COVID-19 testing centers, each with 15 stations where students will self-administer a nasal swab test.
    • Locations include CURRENT ArtSpace, the Carolina Union and Rams Head Recreation Center on South Campus.
  • Although not required, voluntary testing will be available for faculty and staff.
• Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Amy Johnson spoke about improving communication between students and the University about testing and community standards.
• "Our goal this semester really was to ensure that more voices were included in our planning and I believe that we've successfully done that," Guskiewicz said.

What's next?

• The Faculty Council will hold its next meeting on Jan. 15. Vaccine updates will likely be added to the discussion.

university@dailytarheel.com

Last month, both school districts sent out intent forms to families to gauge individual plans about returning to hybrid instruction or remaining fully remote, the results of which have yet to be publicly released.

Currently, both districts are tentatively planning to proceed under a "Plan B" for the spring semester, which will offer a hybrid alternating schedule for various cohorts beginning in January, in addition to other fully-remote plans.

Jeff Nash, community relations director for CHCCS, said the cohort instruction model allows schools to practice deep cleaning and offer teachers a chance to work and connect outside of the classroom on Wednesdays.

"That gives the teachers time to do professional development," Nash said, "but also if they want to have office hours or meetings with students, they can do that."

During in-person instruction sessions, both districts plan to maintain social distancing in the classrooms, require face coverings at all times and ensure student safety through increased distancing practices during arrival, dismissal and lunch.

Hybrid instruction differs significantly from previous in-person semesters. However, it may be a welcome change for many district members. In a survey sent out by CHCCS in late October, 36 percent of parents said they were somewhat satisfied with their children's remote learning, while 10 percent reported feeling not at all satisfied. Within staff, 29 percent said they were somewhat satisfied with remote instruction.

Some of the biggest adjustments both teachers and students said they've struggled with in the remote learning format are changes to the social environment and participation. In the CHCCS survey, 56 percent of students between 6th and 12th grade said they felt only somewhat connected to the adults at their school.

Ben Knight, a junior at Chapel Hill High School, said that while the transition to online learning has been handled well, he believes that socialization and motivation are becoming increasingly strained as the situation continues.

"I think there's been a drop-off in participation as people become more exhausted with the situation," Knight said.

Marne Meredith, a school social worker at Ephesus Elementary School and parent to a high school junior, said she noticed a similar feeling of burnout from her daughter before Thanksgiving.

"She seemed to get pretty disappointed when she thought they were going to get to go back part-time in October, but then the decision was made to extend it," Meredith said.

Meredith said that while she would like for her daughter to be able to return to school in person, they must weigh their considerations with the safety of teachers and others who are higher-risk.

"I feel comfortable with her going back, but I do worry for the adults," Meredith said. "It's hard trying to balance that, 'What does she want?' and, 'What does she need?' while also accounting for the needs of the teachers."

In a poll conducted by CHCCS in early October, more than 73 percent of teachers said they would prefer to continue with remote instruction. For many teachers, concerns over individual safety and the safety of those they live with has complicated the decision of which mode of instruction they would prefer.

Lauren Boening, a third-grade teacher at Morris Grove Elementary School, said she is concerned for teachers, especially those living with high-risk relatives, who may have to adjust at short notice to essential, in-person work.

"I understand that we're not only ones being put in that position, and that there's essential workers all over who are being forced into that position," Boening said. "But it is different in that we do have an option that's safer that we could choose to continue doing."

Boening also said she is concerned about the potential disruption that switching to alternating hybrid formats could bring for younger ages.

"Routines changing is something that can be stressful for children," Boening said. "If we introduce a new routine of going to school in this hybrid model, and then someone gets sick and you have to quarantine and change your routine again, it becomes stressful."

Beth Kinney, who is a special education resource teacher at Smith Middle School, said she's missed the level of interaction she's previously been able to have with her students, and is looking forward to the potential of having them back in person.

"I've missed my students, and I've missed the noise of a classroom," Kinney said. "That's why I teach."

But Kinney said she understands the many barriers that students are facing with returning to school in person, and is prepared to provide quality education over both formats.

Andrea Lorenz, who is a parent to both a kindergartener and third grader, said she's excited at the potential to return to in-person instruction, but believes ongoing national and local trends with the pandemic will ultimately inform her decision.

"It's really hard because parents have to be their own epidemiologists to figure out what's safe," Lorenz said

As both school districts prepare plans for the spring, they remain in conversation with other schools and the state to determine safety on an ongoing basis.

Nash said that while the district is looking forward to the possibility of a hybrid spring semester, it ultimately remains at the mercy of how the pandemic progresses.

"At the end of the day, we've got to make the decision that keeps people safe," Nash said. "And I know some folks get upset about that, but we just can't risk it."

@briandrosie

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com

They knew the event had been gaining steam in the days leading up to the protest, but Borne and Thurber were blown away when more than a thousand demonstrators came out with their signs and marching shoes to peacefully speak out against racial injustices occurring across the nation.

Borne began crying.

"This is love," she said. "This is what the world should look like."

Thurber and Borne's protest in March 2012 took on a life of its own as North Carolinians came out to protest the justice system's response to the death of Trayvon Martin, which became part of the series of events that led to the formation of Black Lives Matter. The movement continued to evolve and grow in the years leading up to the massive worldwide protests that occurred after the death of George Floyd earlier this year.

One of the largest protests in Raleigh during the summer was led by Greear Webb, a sophomore at UNC and co-founder of Young Americans Protest.

Webb decided he had to do something in May after seeing the video of the events that led to Floyd's death.

Webb said it only took a few days for YAP and other coalition groups throughout the Triangle to arrange a demonstration with about 4,000 participants who marched through downtown Raleigh on May 30. He said the Raleigh Demands Justice coalition worked to bring out young people to say that what happened to Floyd and other Black men and women in the United States is wrong.

The march was a surreal experience for Webb.

The marketing of the protest and march was done by young people, but the participants were of all ages and races. To Webb, it seemed like everybody was there, and the people were expressing themselves however they knew how with posters, t-shirts, chants and slogans.

Borne said the diversity she saw with the 2020 protests was inspiring for her because it was so different from the initial protests in 2012.

"When this first happened, a lot of Caucasian people kept quiet because they didn't know what to say, or what to do, or how to react," she said.

William Sturkey, an associate professor at UNC who specializes in the history of race in the American South, said the key issue that has historically motivated people to join and support civil rights demonstrations has been witnessing violence against Black people. Sturkey said the Civil Rights Movement, without violent images like the bodies of people murdered or the bombed 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, would not have been successful.

"With George Floyd, you saw it," Sturkey said. "You saw the guy kneeling on his neck for nine minutes. Without that, people might dismiss these claims from African Americans."

The Raleigh Demands Justice protest pushed a cohesive message with a concise list of demands ranging from limiting the number of police stations to more accountability and transparency in the Raleigh Police Department. This is a stark difference from the 2012 demonstration led by Borne and Thurber.

The two women said when they had the idea and organized the protest, they had no specific demands. They wanted to go out and show support for the Martin family and to reconcile with the fact that Martin could have been a child in their own family and community.

"It was nothing for my sons to leave out the house with their hoodie on and walk across the street to the Family Dollar store or just to their friend's house," Thurber said.

Both protests from 2012 and 2020 emphasized that they would be non-violent events, and the duration of the events were largely peaceful. However, one of the storylines that followed the Black Lives Matter protests this year was the looting and rioting that occurred after the peaceful protests were wrapping up.

Webb said it is important to understand that demonstrators are talking about people's lives, and they are rightfully angry and should use their constitutional right to express their frustration in a positive way. He said it doesn't help when a group of people may destroy a business, but it is important to understand that no window is worth a life.

"Protesting is not designed to be peaceful, but it works best when it's non-violent," Webb said. "It's supposed to be disruptive. It's supposed to be discomforting for people."

Speaking about the Floyd protests, Thurber said on one hand it was amazing to see so many people understand what they were talking about eight years ago with Martin's death, but the scenes of violence were upsetting for her. She said the few people who were violent took away from the important message being sent.

After analyzing over 7,750 demonstrations linked to the Black Lives Matter movement, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project found that more than 93 percent were peaceful protests. Sturkey said criticism of violence during civil rights protests was not uncommon throughout history. He pointed to opponents of the Civil Rights Movement labeling the famous March on Washington an "intimidation march."

Webb said now that the hype of the summer protests has died down, the movement is focused on applying political pressure to create policy changes. He said there are three steps to creating change: education, protesting and policy changes. He said they are seeking candidates to run for office who would represent its interests, in addition to preparing policies they would be able to present to leaders in the community.

"We understand that it could be tomorrow when another police shooting of an unarmed Black person in America takes place," Webb said. "So we want folks that are with us, and were with us over the summer, to be with us again."

@brittmcgee21

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com

What happened?

After stifling Western Carolina's first drive, the UNC offense moved like a hot knife through butter down the field, taking nine plays to go 71 yards for the score, capped off by the 17-yard touchdown rush by Michael Carter up the middle. On the next drive, the Catamounts took advantage of UNC's undisciplined defense to get just outside of the red zone with an opportunity to move forward, but a dropped pass meant WCU had to settle for a 40-yard field goal for its first points of the day.

On the Tar Heels' next drive, it took them just four plays and 1:05 of game time to find the end zone once again, this time on a 22-yard reception by Antoine Green, to make the score 14-3. With Western Carolina being forced into another three-and-out, North Carolina needed just three plays to score with the first quarter ending, going up 21-3.

UNC failed to score for the first time on its next drive, when receiver Toe Groves fumbled a caught ball in the WCU 30-yard line, that was recovered by the Catamounts. While Western Carolina quickly got on the other side of the field with a 40-yard pass from Reggie Jones to Owen Cosenke, it was unable to score and elected to punt on fourth down from the UNC 34-yard line.

UNC would score yet again on its next drive, working its way into the red zone until running back Javonte Williams punched the ball in with a 3-yard rush, the Tar Heels' fourth touchdown of the day. It would be Carter's turn to score on the next drive with a five-yard rush, his third touchdown of the game, which tied a career high previously set against Mercer last year. The Tar Heels would score one more time before the end of the first half, on a 22-yard pass to receiver Dazz Newsome, to go up 49-3 at the break.

In the second half, with first-year quarterback Jacolby Criswell under center for North Carolina, and then Jace Ruder and finally Jefferson Boaz, UNC scored just seven more points to complete the blowout.

Who stood out?

In his last home game as a Tar Heel, Carter tied his career-high touchdowns in a game with three, all in the first half. He led UNC in rushing yards with 73 on just eight attempts, and powered the offense during the first half blowout.

Sophomore quarterback Sam Howell threw for 287 yards and two touchdowns, all in the first half as well. With his second touchdown, he moved into a tie for second for all-time career passing touchdowns at UNC with 64.

When was it decided?

Heading into the second quarter already up 21-3, it was clear North Carolina was going to walk away with a blowout win. The second half was a mere formality, as UNC rested many of its starters, and tread water until the end.

Why does it matter?

Saturday's matchup was always going to be a blowout, with the Tar Heels favored by nearly 50 points coming into the matchup. The win doesn't mean much, outside of an opportunity to adjust any small issues UNC might have before the last game of the season.

When do they play next?

The Tar Heels will play their last game of the regular season next Saturday on Dec. 12 against No. 10 Miami, which is set to be one of the toughest challenges North Carolina will face this season.

@bg_keyes

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

In only her fourth game as a first-year on the North Carolina women's basketball team, which was a 98-28 drubbing of South Carolina State, Kennedy Todd-Williams finished just one assist shy of the first triple-double in program history.

The kicker?

The Jacksonville, North Carolina, native, who UNC head coach Courtney Banghart dubbed the "Scottie Pippen of college basketball," nearly accomplished the feat in just 21 minutes of action against the Bulldogs.

"I like to share the ball," Todd-Williams said. "I'm a versatile player, so I like to be on the boards, get a bucket when I need to or find my teammates."

What would've been the second triple-double of her playing career - the first being a 22-point, 12-rebound and 10-assist outing as a high school senior in her first game back from a torn ACL - started off with a quick nine points from Todd-Williams in the opening frame to go with five assists in the second quarter.

By halftime, she carried 10 points, six boards and six assists into the break through only 13 minutes of playing time, en route to her final stat line of 14 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals.

"Oh, my gosh. I love Toddy. She's a beast," fellow first-year guard Deja Kelly, who racked up a team-high 16 points in the victory, said. "She brings a little bit of everything to this team, which is extremely helpful. If you need a rebound, she's got it. If you need a bucket, she's got it. If you need a stop, she's got it. So, yeah, Todd's gonna be a problem in the ACC."

And Kelly's point about looking ahead to conference play is right on the money.

As Banghart pointed out after the win, it's difficult for her team to actually celebrate Todd-Williams' performance as much as possible and utilize this victory as a learning experience when one team is so heavily favored over the other.

Add in the fact that this year's UNC team is allotting at least 12 minutes of playing time to five first-years, there is reason to be concerned about how such a young team will make the jump to a much more difficult ACC schedule by the time it plays Wake Forest on Thursday, Dec. 10. The group will need to rely on more performances like Todd-Williams' to make the best run possible in such a competitive league.

"(We're just trying to) stay grounded to our principles and come out stronger than the other team because we're about to face these ACC teams, and from the upperclassmen, they're saying it's no joke," Todd-Williams said. "So we just have to take every game by itself and play to our principles one game at a time."

Still, Todd-Williams' stellar night is a sign of the work she's put in and her potential to step up as a leader for the Tar Heels once their conference slate begins.

Banghart was quick to point out how Thursday night's showing from the first-year is just a representation of how much time the young guard spends in the gym and watching film.

"Anything good that happens to Kennedy Todd-Williams, the entire team's happy because she puts the time in, and she's just a great teammate," Banghart said. "I'm certainly glad she's a Tar Heel."

With a weekend matchup against UNC-Charlotte as the only remaining nonconference game to start this season, the Tar Heels will be looking to see if Todd-Williams can continue her hot streak to start their run of conference games off on the right foot following last year's late-season collapse.

"I just think our chemistry is definitely there, and I think we're ready," Kelly said.

@McMastersJ

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

The loss moves UNC to 3-1, denying them a Maui Invitational championship and exposing some early-season flaws that head coach Roy Williams and company will look to patch up. Here are three takeaways from the game - and the Maui tournament as a whole.

Free throws, free throws, free throws

"There were a lot of things we could've done better," center Armando Bacot said plainly after the game.

Yup. The Tar Heels shot just 1-9 from 3-point range against the Longhorns, committed 14 turnovers - eight of which were in the first 11 minutes of play - and did little to stymie the opposition from deep, allowing Texas to sink nine of 22 3-point attempts themselves.

Despite all that, though, Bacot could've been striking a much different tone postgame if the Tar Heels weren't a dreadful 18 of 32 from the free throw line. In a game decided by a single possession, that can't happen.

"We missed three free throws in the last two minutes," Williams said. "At the end of the game, you've got to make three throws."

This season, UNC is shooting 61.9 percent from the line through four games - not good, but especially worrying for a team so reliant on paint points and offensive production in the front court. The combination of Bacot, Garrison Brooks, Day'Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler was 10 for 20 from the stripe on Wednesday; combine that with any other poor offensive metric - shoddy outside shooting, a bad case of the turnover bug - and you've got a recipe for disaster, one North Carolina is all too familiar with after last season.

Backcourt still a work in progress

There's no cause to overreact here. In college basketball, a first-year point guard who shows up with everything together is the exception, not the rule. It's even rarer in Chapel Hill, where everyone from Raymond Felton to Joel Berry II has spoken openly about the struggles of learning Williams' fast-paced system.

The question, as always, is how quickly the next batch of UNC guards can adapt. Consider this year's backcourt basically on schedule in that regard.

RJ Davis has been North Carolina's most consistently impressive rookie, having reached double-digit points in every game so far including a team-high 16 against UNLV. But he also has the benefit of not having to handle the ball full-time; he's notched just six assists this season to go along with eight turnovers.

More worrying for Tar Heel fans is Caleb Love, who coughed it up five times against Stanford and four times against Texas and hasn't yet shot above 50 percent from the field in a game this season.

Still, cooler heads should prevail on this one. Patience is a virtue, and all that. Coby White, for example, shot just 37 percent and averaged 2.4 turnovers through his first handful of college games. That season, Williams and his team harped on their continued belief in White; the same generosity should (and will) be extended to Love.

"You've gotta shoot a higher percentage," Williams said of his point guard. "Zero assists, four turnovers, that's not good. But I love him to death as a kid. He's gonna work really hard, and I think he's going to learn all those things."

In the meantime...

The offense should run through Brooks

The Preseason ACC Player of the Year has had a decent start to 2020-21, recording games of 14 points against UNLV and 18 points against the Longhorns. But one gets the feeling Garrison Brooks is capable of more. That'd mean a steadier diet of plays and shots for the senior forward, plus a smidge more aggression on his part when he's in scoring position.

Against No. 3 Iowa on Tuesday, for example, expect Williams to lean on the veteran Brooks - not just setting the tone defensively against the Hawkeyes' Luka Garza, but carrying the bulk of the scoring load, showing his teammates the way on both ends.

"We're still learning, still getting better every day," Brooks said after the Texas loss.

Through four games, that's been the theme of the Tar Heels' season. They haven't blown anybody's doors off, but they've done enough to show they'll be a tough opponent come March. (In case you didn't believe that before the year started.)

If history's any indication, the backcourt will continue to progress. And some additional free throw shooting in practice will do the Tar Heels some good. In the meantime, though, leaning on Brooks seems to be the move, allowing this iteration of North Carolina plenty of time to reach its final form, whatever that might be.

@ryantwilcox

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

Tuesday's game, on the second day of the 2020 Maui Invitational, was far from perfect. First-year guard Caleb Love went 2-for-11 from the field in the first half. The No. 14 Tar Heels turned the ball over 24 times and committed 22 fouls. For much of the game, Stanford was in the lead (Cardinal: 19 minutes, Tar Heels: 14), and it was well deserved. But it didn't matter - North Carolina 67, Stanford 63.

Stanford doesn't lack talent, either. Head coach Jerod Haase is a program builder who's found success everywhere he's stopped, from the bench at Kansas and UNC as an assistant coach for Roy Williams, to an NCAA Tournament run at UAB. He's recruited well - five-star first-year Ziaire Williams finished as the fourth leading scorer for the Cardinal - and Stanford's on-court production has it ranked No. 28 in the KenPom rankings.

"It helps knowing the kind of things they're gonna try and do, but the reality is it doesn't matter how much I know," Haase said. "We're still playing against a great team, a great coach, great players and a system that has been proven over time."

Stanford is by far the best team the Tar Heels have faced so far this season, and North Carolina's performance was ugly. But as the second half wore on, the Tar Heels' talent shone through, and they did what they couldn't last year in their five single-possession losses: win gritty, toss-up contests.

"I loved how we just kept trying to make it ugly, but at the same time kept competing," UNC head coach Roy Williams said. "The game was just decided in one or two plays."

More than anyone else's, junior wing Leaky Black's performance on Tuesday represented the tale of two seasons for North Carolina. The junior went to the gym every day over the summer and shot until 500 balls went through the net, and his release and confidence in shot creation has clearly improved from last year. And against Stanford, it was his efforts on both ends of the floor that sealed a UNC victory.

Black affected shot after shot from Williams - an offensively gifted future lottery pick who scored 19 points in his collegiate debut on Monday - and sealed the game with a smooth lay-in on one possession and a game-icing free throw seconds later.

"I feel like I always have confidence, I feel like (the last-minute lay up) was just being in the right place at the right time," Black said. "I always have confidence though."

After struggling to put the ball through the net in the first half, Love's second-half performance was key to the Tar Heels' victory. Four first-half points quickly turned into a team-high 16 points in the second. A kick out from Black to the left side of the arch a little over two minutes into the frame, and a smooth release from Love sent him off to the races.

As was the case for North Carolina, Love's final stat sheet was far from pretty - 6-18 shooting and a team-high five turnovers - but his play injected life into what was a stagnant offense throughout much of the second half.

"We just didn't come out with energy like we were supposed to, our turnovers led to easy baskets and it was just like a domino effect to the whole team," Love said. "But once we got it under control, we took over, and that's how we got the win."

Tuesday answered a lot of questions for North Carolina. This team can win games that last year's squad couldn't. But on Wednesday, the Tar Heels will face what could be their biggest test this side of ACC play: a No. 17 Texas squad that has had UNC's number throughout the Roy Williams era, for a chance at UNC's first Maui title since 2016.

"I feel like we're battle-tested, I feel like we've been through everything we could've possibly been through after last year," Black said. "We've got some guys that are willing to learn and fight when the going gets tough. That's all you can ask for."

@zachycrain

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

Her most recent young adult fantasy novel "Legendborn" tells the story of 16-year-old Bree Matthews as she combats these obstacles, in addition to facing racism and the exclusionary history of UNC.

Taking place after Bree's mother's death, "Legendborn" follows the main character's transition to life at a fictional early college program at UNC as she discovers a magical world within her own - by infiltrating a fictional secret society at UNC.

Deonn, who has a master's degree in communication and performance studies from UNC, said she drew on her own experiences while writing this novel.

"When my own mother passed away, I learned that she had lost her mother at the same age that I lost her, and that the same had occurred with my grandmother and great-grandmother," Deonn said. "I began writing from a place of grief and mystery, but also from an impossible question: Why did this pattern occur?"

Deonn said her personal journey and that question led her to King Arthur, who is a favorite of hers and what she called one of the most long-lived legends.

Kurt Davies, a UNC graduate and the director of global awards at New York University, decided to read "Legendborn" due to their acquaintance with Deonn. Despite not being a regular young adult fiction reader, Davies said they thoroughly enjoyed the novel.

"I always like to support the art and the work from my friends, so I decided to pick it up," Davies said. "It's not generally the type of book I'm drawn to, but I very quickly was drawn into it."

Davies said that in addition to being a fantasy novel, the book explores more serious topics.

"The book does a really amazing job of having all of the elements you'd expect in a young adult fantasy novel, but also it has this really fantastic, nuanced examination of race and the legacy of slavery," Davies said.

Christine Schwarz, the media and bookstore experience lead at Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews, said she was drawn to "Legendborn" due to the author's connection to UNC, as well as its Chapel Hill setting.

She explained that Epilogue looks for books by local writers as well as authors whose voices may not get as much attention, especially since the publishing industry is geared towards white, cisgender and heterosexual men.

"I was interested when I saw the cover and the tagline, but the fact that it's set at UNC shot it up my 'To Be Read' list," she said.

Schwarz regularly reads young adult fiction novels, and spoke highly of "Legendborn" as well.

"I think it was actually done really, really incredibly," she said. "It handled a lot of the history of UNC without glossing over it, specifically Black history on campus. And it gave literal Black girl magic, a magic that's passed through the matriarchal line through Black women."

Davies said they appreciated the diversity of the characters of the novel.

"There are characters of a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds," Davies said. "There are queer characters and nonbinary characters, and it's not to check off sort of 'woke' boxes. It's just a diverse, vibrant cast of characters."

As an avid fantasy reader, UNC junior Ty Williams said she feels similarly to Schwarz and Davies. Williams has been reading fantasy novels since she was a child, and is now making a conscious effort to read books by Black authors, since many popular fantasy novels tend to be Eurocentric or focus on white protagonists.

Williams explained that though she has not experienced all of the hardships that the main character Bree faces, she knows that they are commonplace to many others.

"It shows what it's like to be Black at UNC," Williams said. "There's one part where somebody asks to touch Bree's hair, and I can definitely relate to that."

As Deonn explained, "Legendborn" has been her most ambitious creative task due to the scope of its mythology and history, but she was compelled to see it into fruition.

"As a Black woman who never saw herself in her favorite YA fantasy novels growing up," Deonn said, "I felt, and still feel, a deep compulsion to see a teenage Black girl centered in a sweeping, immersive, fantastic story."

arts@dailytarheel.com

Amy Johnson, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, said that this decision was made with the goal of increasing transparency while protecting private information.

"We have always talked about how we could make our community standards and the enforcement and our adherence to them transparent to the University community, so that has always been an objective," Johnson said.

To ensure student confidentiality, Johnson said Student Affairs has worked with the general counsel to understand the critical mass amount of cases needed to eliminate student identifiers. This past semester, there were a total of 456 referrals - with 324 of those ending in developmental action and 56 ending in removal from Carolina Housing.

Looking ahead to the spring 2021 semester, Student Affairs will continue to make this data available and work with other organizations such as the Orange County Health Department, Chapel Hill Police Department and UNC Police Department.

Aaron Bachenheimer, executive director of off-campus student life and community partnerships, said these connections are important to properly enforcing and responding to community guideline violations.

"It's been really helpful to triangulate information and talk about the most appropriate response, which in most cases, particularly for what I would call sort of a first offense, assuming that it's not egregious, is outreach education," Bachenheimer said.

While community standards may change to incorporate the University's recent testing guidelines, disenrollment will continue to be a consequence for non-compliance with community standards for the upcoming semester.

"The reality is our community standards, while some of the elements may change, our approach to it won't change," Johnson said. "It will remain a condition of enrollment."

Though community guidelines will see few changes this spring, Johnson said Student Affairs has gathered feedback from students and is working to make guidelines and consequences clearer in hopes of increasing student adherence to community standards.

First-year student Addison Powers said the University could have done a better job making the consequences clear to students this past semester.

"I believe the consequences could have been communicated better overall, which could have led to less of my peers contracting COVID and causing everyone to be sent home in the fall," Powers said.

In light of the University's recent decision to reintroduce limited in-person classes next spring, Powers said it will be important for UNC to clearly outline its guidelines and consequences.

"I believe the University should emphasize not only the health risks of not wearing a mask more but also lay out the consequences of such actions in bold terms," Powers said. "That way more students will feel the need to wear a mask, even if it does not coincide with their ideology."

To resolve these clarity issues, Johnson said she is working to consolidate more information on the Carolina Together website into one location.

"One of the other things that we have noticed is the Carolina Together website, while bringing all of this information together, has things in different places," Johnson said.

For example, he said the website currently has information related to community standards and mass gathering guidelines in separate locations.

The next community standards report will be available on the Carolina Together website on Feb. 1.

university@dailytarheel.com

An upcoming meeting of local jurisdictions in December to review the results of an environmental assessment will shed light on how to move forward with development.

The background of the Greene Tract

Originally bought to be a landfill in 1984, 104 acres of the Greene Tract are jointly owned by Orange County, Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Orange County solely owns 60 acres, called the Headwaters Preserve.

Orange County designated its 60 acres for preservation, and in February 2019, all three jurisdictions considered a resolution for the jointly owned 104 acres that designated land uses and their approximate acreage and location. The proposed acreage for the uses include: 67 for housing and mixed use, 22 for preservation, 11 for a public school site and four for a recreational facility.

Orange County and Carrboro Board of Aldermen approved the resolution, and Chapel Hill Town Council delayed voting in February and held a special summer session on July 15, 2019 to re-vote.

After more than three hours of discussion and hearing from the public, the council ultimately voted 7 to 2 to approve a revised resolution that promoted specific land uses and their approximate acreage without designating their location.

In order to bridge the different resolutions passed by the towns and county, the three jurisdictions adopted the 2020 Greene Tract Resolution, which provided a path forward contingent on the completion of an environmental study to identify what areas of the property are most critical to be preserved.

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said the study was completed in the summer. The Chapel Hill planning department will share the findings with relevant government officials of the three jurisdictions sometime in December, where they will decide how to share the findings with the public.

A 'long history of discrimination'

Chapel Hill Town Council member Karen Stegman said she was in favor of the original resolution because it was driven by the vision of residents in the Rogers Road neighborhood, a historically African American neighborhood on the Greene Tract land that has historically been underserved by local municipalities.

In 2016, after months of hearing from community residents, the Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association and Jackson Center completed a report called "Mapping Our Community's Future." The report laid out what type of development they believed would benefit their community the most, including mixed-income affordable housing units, small-scale commercial development and a new school for the neighborhood.

Stegman said the disagreement among the council that prevented them from moving forward with the original resolution was due to a strong push late in the discussion to preserve the entire tract.

"There were a lot of people who came into this new, and didn't understand the years and years of intensive work that had gone on to get to the point where we were last summer, and that that work was based on, and very much respecting, the work of the RENA community and others," Stegman said.

Penny Rich, chairperson of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, said some Chapel Hill residents advocated to preserve the Greene Tract out of a concern that building affordable housing there could bring down the value of their homes.

"This is a horrible example of structural racism and white people manipulating Black people," Rich said. "It is typical Chapel Hill, happy-clappy limousine liberals that don't want to build affordable housing, because they don't want it in their backyard, and that's all it is, it is pure racism."

For decades, residents of the Rogers Road neighborhood have been victims of structural and environmental racism in local development planning. The county built its first landfill on the north side of Eubanks Road in 1972 and a second in 1995 on the south side.

As a result of their proximity to the landfill, Rogers Road residents have endured several decades of negative impacts, such as "truck traffic, illegal dumping, a putrid stench, contaminated wells, rats and vultures," according to a community report.

"It is really important to understand the long history of discrimination and environmental racism that the RENA neighborhood has experienced," Stegman said.

Looking towards the future

Moving forward on the Greene Tract discussions, Stegman said it is a top priority for her to apply a racial equity lens and ensure the voices of this long-marginalized community are not drowned out by competing agendas.

The president of RENA, Robert Campbell, said the community report gave the Town the chance to hear the voices of the people and to frame development around their vision. Campbell said his goal is to not only shape development in a way that benefits the community, but to empower the community's voice by encouraging residents to engage in the process.

Specifically, Campbell said one overarching concept of the vision is the creation of new housing units that expand upon the character of the current community.

"To create another adjacent community without including affordability and economic opportunity would be creating another barrier and add to being underserved," he said.

Campbell, who spoke at the July 15 meeting in favor of the original resolution, said he remains hopeful about the future of the Greene Tract. He said he believes the community's voice has become stronger and more cohesive after years spent working together on the report.

When the county and towns meet in December to discuss the findings of the environmental study, Hemminger said they will also plan how to share the results with the public. She said they are hoping to find a way to do this in person rather than virtually, so no community members are disadvantaged if they do not have access to virtual resources.

Campbell said he is waiting to see the findings.

"They are hearing the voices of the people, and they got the report from the people, and so I believe the voices of the people have more power in the shaping and the framing of what can be done on the Greene Tract," he said.

@DTHCityState | city@dailytarheel.com

Cates, a Black man and resident of the Northside neighborhood in Chapel Hill, was 22 when he was stabbed outside the Carolina Union by members of a white supremacist biker gang. In the aftermath of Cates' death in 1970, the Northside community marched through Chapel Hill in protest. During the murder trial in 1971, members of the white supremacist group, the Storm Troopers, were found not guilty.

On Nov. 20, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz announced the launch of a year-long study of James Cates' murder by a committee of researchers, members of the Cates family and officials from the Town of Chapel Hill.

Community members gathered last Saturday in remembrance of Cates, marching from the Hargraves Community Center to the Peace and Justice Plaza, where a memorial had been set up for the day. The march was organized by a collective of Cates' family, community members and representatives from UNC and the Town of Chapel Hill.

According to research published by journalist Mike Ogle, Cates grew up playing baseball outside Hargraves Community Center. Minister Robert Campbell, a longtime Chapel Hill resident and friend of Cates, began the march with a prayer at the center.

"Let it bring forth closure, even though Baby Boy is gone, that we remember his compassion, we remember his love, we remember the laughter and the joy that we used to share together," Campbell said.

Cates was killed outside the Union on Nov. 21, 1970, while an all-night dance intended to improve race relations was happening inside.

From the community center, the Saturday march stopped at St. Joseph Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, where Cates' funeral service was held 50 years ago. During his prayer, Rev. John Cradle reminded the community that racial violence has continued since Cates' murder.

"From Emmett Till to Breonna Taylor to our boy George, and now James Lewis Cates, the saga continues as if Black lives have no meaning, Black lives have no purpose," Cradle said.

Black activists and community members have been advocating for the full truth of Cates' murder to be investigated for years. In February 2019, the University removed a plaque honoring James Cates that activists had placed in the Pit less than 24 hours prior.

The last line of the plaque read: "We fight in his name."

Chapel Hill native Danita Mason-Hogans, daughter of Chapel Hill Nine member David Mason, Jr. and Critical Oral Histories Project Manager at Duke University, is a local historian who will be researching James Cates' murder in the coming year. She will work with Cates' family, community scholars and Black students and activists at UNC, in addition to researchers from the University and officials from the Town.

"When the University told the story of James Cates, it was told from the perspective of people who did not have connections with the local community," Mason-Hogans said. "So there's so much of that story that has not been told."

According to Ogle's research, UNC police failed to take Cates to the hospital on time. It was just a few minutes away.

A 1971 New York Times article stated that there were "widespread reports that Mr. Cates might have lived had the ambulance service been faster or had campus police men allowed friends to remove him to the hospital." The University conducted interviews to create a report, which contained falsified information from the night of Cates' murder.

The committee researching Cates' murder was formed as part of the University's "Build our Community Together" strategic initiative. The initiative is the first of those included in Carolina Next, a plan for University operations that includes eight specific initiatives to "create change at Carolina for the greater good."

UNC professor Malinda Maynor Lowery, director of the Center for the Study of the American South and member of the committee, attended the march on Saturday.

"To memorialize Mr. Cates is a way of bringing citizens, students, faculty, people who have different roles in this community, together to reckon with not just what happened to him but with the ways in which the institutions have harmed citizens of the Town without repercussion," Lowery said.

From St. Joseph Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, the group marched down Franklin Street carrying candles and shouting Cates' name, until they reached the Peace and Justice Plaza.

There, Mason-Hogans and others shared parting thoughts. Nate Davis, a first cousin of Cates, said the focus would not be on what happened in 1970, but rather on the work that will happen moving forward.

"It's been 50 years," Davis said. "Fifty years, that's how long it's been."

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