Debate has focused on a course at UNC after a student wrote a column saying the class sympathized with terrorists.

Alec Dent is a first year student from Lumberton who brought attention to a seminar at Carolina called ‘Literature of 9/11.’

Dent’s column appeared in an online publication – The College Fix, which bills itself as “Your Daily Dose of RIGHT-Minded News and Commentary” – saying the class told the story of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US from the perspective of “radical Islamists and those who view America as an imperialist nation.” Dent says that his editor at the College Fix brought the story idea to him.

“I went over the reading list. I read about the course, the syllabus and previous reviews,” he says. “My article is more about having a fair and balanced environment in the classroom, because the reading list, to me, raised some serious questions about whether or not the course was approaching the situation in a fair and balanced manner.”

Dent received national attention for his article, from Fox News to the L.A. Times.

However, the article has been receiving some backlash after Dent admitted he has not actually taken the course. Dent also says he did not speak with anyone who had taken the course when writing his article.

“No, I wasn’t able to reach out to anyone who had taken the course,” he says. “I did attempt to get in contact with the professor when I was writing my article, because I thought it was important to get his perspective on the issue. But, unfortunately, I never got a response.”

Despite these factors, Dent says he still feels he was qualified to write the article. Dent says his research for the column consisted of reading reviews of the course from other students and reading a synopsis of each of the books involved in the seminar.

Alec Dragelin graduated from UNC in May of this year. Dragelin tells WCHL he took the course in question during his first year at Carolina in 2011. Dragelin commented on Dent’s column saying he has missed the mark with his story.

“In general, it was probably one of the most rewarding classes that I ever took,” he says. “It was challenging, because I had to look at perspectives and viewpoints that I didn’t agree with…but it was eye opening at the same time. And in no way, shape or form did it sympathize or empathize with the terrorist perspective.

“We had all people from all different walks of life, all different political perspectives, and I think we all benefited from it greatly.”

Dragelin says, based off of the book list, it doesn’t look like the class has changed since he took the seminar four years ago. He says seeing the negative reaction to the course has been frustrating for him.

“Neel Ahuja, the professor, was an amazing professor,” he says. “And he taught the course really well. And we learned a lot from it.”

Dent says it wasn’t his intention in writing the column to quiet one point of view on campus.

“I think it is a good idea to present students with the perspective of terrorists,” he says, “just, sort of, to challenge their beliefs and help them grow in their own beliefs, maybe help them understand why they believe something.

“But at the same time, if you’re going to do that, I feel you have to present it from the American perspective as well.”

Dent adds he does not want the course to be removed from the curriculum.

“I don’t want to see the class removed,” he says. “That’s not the stance I’m taking here. I just want to see a fair and balanced approach to the subject.”

The UNC College Republican group has been circulating a petition, which serves as an open letter to Chancellor Folt, the Board of Trustees, and the Board of Governors, among other constituents, to reform the course – calling it an “embarrassment” to the university. Dent is a member of the Carolina College Republicans, according to the group’s twitter page.

UNC issued a statement regarding the seminar that reads, in part, “The ability to bring differing points of view goes beyond the classroom; each year, student organizations invite speakers representing their own platforms that, collectively, offer an array of diverse ideologies from the left and right that lead to intellectual debate and discovery.”