Campus Pride has brought attention to a disturbing development in the making for the University of North Carolina (UNC) school system. The UNC Board of Governors is considering banning all-gender housing on all 17 UNC campuses.
The ban first has to be voted on by the UNC Board of Governors University Governance Committee on Thursday, August 8th, then approved at the public meeting on Friday, August 9th. Students, residents, and alumni are encouraged to contact the Board of Governors before August 8th, and show up to the public meeting with signs on the 9th.
All requests for UNC LGBT students to speak on the agenda have been denied, so it's imperative that UNC LGBT voices are heard in any way possible.
What can you do?
- Email and call the UNC Board of Governors individually – specifically Peter Hans, the Chair and Frank Grainger, the Vice-Chair/Head of University Governance Committee. Use the UNC Board of Governors Contact List and sample letter provided by Campus Pride.
- Attend both the August 8th and August 9th public meetings at the UNC-Chapel Hill Spangler Center (also known as the General Administration Building) to show your support and concern as well as voice your opinion. Campus Pride will be in attendance along with other LGBT and ally students.
- Spread the word to any students or faculty that attend or work at any UNC campus in order to ensure LGBT and ally voices will be heard before a decision is made.
The result of this decision is potentially harmful for LGBT students at UNC. Instead of having the student's best interests in mind, the UNC Board of Governors is considering an action that directly harms LGBT students that attend UNC. Because of this, we ask that the LGBT and ally voices at UNC make their voices heard before a harmful decision is made.