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Is Carolina Still the University of the People?
A perspective from William Scott Williams
On the evening of April 29th, I took my camera to campus. Students were camped out on the lawn, listening to music, reading, and painting signs. Although the mainstream media seemed to endorse the view that these protests were antisemitic and violent, the students I observed were peaceful and polite. Stations had been set up for food, water, and medical supplies. A photo exhibit from Swords to Plowshares was stretched out in the grass detailing the experiences of veterans and their families over the last one hundred years of wars. Townspeople, including elected officials, and faculty, celebrated the freedom to speak their minds.
Leaving the quad that evening, I ran into the smiling, well-dressed interim chancellor in front of the South Building. All sense of bonhomie soon vanished when I realized the card he was going to play next. When the students at Polk Place were rousted at dawn and beaten by police from out of town, at the behest of Roberts, I had to ask: Is this still my Carolina?
I love UNC and I love Chapel Hill. My children have grown up on a steady diet of Tar Heel basketball and football, the lore of Michael Jordan and Dean Smith, dinners on Franklin, and marches on campus and in town. I am proud to be a Tar Heel, or at least I used to be.
When my cousin graduated from the School of Nursing in 1986, students carried signs saying, “Divest Now,” and by 1988, when I was a freshman at UNC (and the current pressing threat was Jesse Helms’ refusal to support funding for the CDC’s efforts to solve the AIDS crisis), the university had divested. These days, students are demanding disclosure as well. Disclosure of investments is simple transparency. The UNC endowment has lost millions over the last two years. Students, parents, and alumni have a right to know: Where is the money?
As a two-time alumnus, who has lived within earshot of the belltower for 30 years, I (like the students who were expelled for voicing their opinions) believe that we have a right to know where the money is going, and a responsibility to ensure it is not invested irresponsibly. The right to peaceful assembly is a bedrock of the college experience, as much as is storming Franklin Street every time we beat Duke.
Watching the videos of police hitting, choking, and dragging the students across the quad, I still have to ask: Is Carolina still the university of the people?
William Scott Williams (BA 1992, MBA 2002) is a sales manager at Cisco Systems, and a writer. He has lived in Chapel Hill for the last three decades.
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