UNC Chancellor Carol Folt said there were “a wide range of emotions being felt by our campus,” after Republican Donald Trump won the state of North Carolina and the overall United States Presidential election on Tuesday night.

Folt wrote in a letter to the campus community that the emotions were tense, “especially after such a close, heated and hard-fought election.”

Folt said that a “privilege as part of a great public university is to be the catalyst for meaningful dialogue about the issues of the day.”

“We know Carolina is at its best when we come together and support one another,” Folt continued.

Folt said that the “values we embrace as a University – light and liberty – are what help us progress.”

Duke University president Richard Brodhead echoed Folt’s sentiments calling this a “particularly hard-fought and divisive election season, one that was marked by a high degree of negativity.”

Brodhead wrote that it was important to move forward together.

“Whatever positions we held in this contest, we all have a stake in the future health of the national community,” Brodhead said, “so we all need to find ways to lessen negativism and division and to reengage the common good.”

Brodhead added that Duke “has its own abiding values” amid “this time of national change.”

“The university is intentionally diverse and inclusive because encounters with different perspectives, beliefs and ways of thinking lead to a more comprehensive understanding,” Brodhead wrote.

Brodhead encouraged respect for one another and conversations on campus.

You can read the full letter from Folt below:

My leadership team and I have been thinking a lot about our community today following yesterday’s election. There are a wide range of emotions being felt by our campus, especially after such a close, heated and hard-fought election. Our privilege as part of a great public university is to be the catalyst for meaningful dialogue about the issues of the day.

We know Carolina is at its best when we come together and support one another, and we are fortunate to have all of you here helping to create such a great University as part of our great democracy. We deeply appreciate what our faculty, staff and students are doing to help our community continue to be welcoming, inclusive and forward-looking. The values we embrace as a University – light and liberty – are what help us progress. It is our fervent hope that all of us will continue to be a source of care, aspiration and thoughtful discussion in service to our state and nation.

Letter from Brodhead below:

A particularly hard-fought and divisive election season, one that was marked by a high degree of negativity, has come to an end, and America has elected a new president.  Whatever positions we held in this contest, we all have a stake in the future health of the national community, so we all need to find ways to lessen negativism and division and to reengage the common good.

At this time of national change, I write to remind you that this university has its own abiding values, which carry protections and obligations for us all.  Duke’s mission is built on the ground of respect for differences. The university is intentionally diverse and inclusive because encounters with different perspectives, beliefs and ways of thinking lead to a more comprehensive understanding—in politics as in every domain. For this reason, each member of this community deserves the full respect of every other and owes everyone the same respect in return. And we must not simply tolerate difference of opinions but create the conditions for respectful dialogue that allow mutual education to take place.

In the coming days and weeks, Duke’s intellectual community, informed by the research and expertise of our faculty, will help us to understand the meaning of this election for America. I hope you will participate in upcoming discussions with faculty, staff and fellow students to analyze this singular year in American politics and to debate the particulars of the way forward.

Most importantly, while our government undergoes a transition, this university remains steadfast in its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and the free exchange of ideas, and we are unwavering in our support for the value of each member of our community.