New to the Carolina Union Board of Directors this year, Dr. Allison Schlobohm is an Assistant Professor of Management and Corporate Communication at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Dr. Schlobohm shared a bit about her background and goals for service on the Board:
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I'm from the suburbs of St. Louis and grew up in Ferguson, Missouri. The suburbs of St. Louis are a very racially segregated yet diverse place. I went to school in a very diverse high school, and yet, always had this disconnect, because of which specific schools you're going to. And then I went to college at Truman State University, which is a small, liberal arts university in northern Missouri. It was cool because it gave merit-based scholarships, where if you had a certain GPA, or a certain class rank and a certain ACT score, you were guaranteed to go for to go for free. So I went to college with just a lot of smart people who weren't accumulating debt, and so that was a unique environment.
I got to know quite a few of my professors. As part of that scholarship, I had to be a research assistant. I knew professors on a one-on-one level, which was special and unique. And I worked a camp for junior high students coming to college. They came for a month and had a college experience, which was fun.
And then after I graduated, and all these students who don't know what they're gonna do, I'm like, ‘I promise you, you'll figure it out!’
What organizations were you involved in during college?
I was in Alpha Phi Omega, which is the service fraternity, but I quit, because they wouldn't change the term for members from brothers to anything else. I hated the stupidity of that. Then I started our campus Better World Books so we collected used textbooks and shipped them to a central headquarters that sold some of them online, so you can buy us textbooks from them, or anything that they didn't sell, they donated to another cause. And so me and my friends, and we were all women, just working dollies boxes full of books. It was really fun.
I ran for student government and I did a lot of volunteer work in college as well. And I was part of this kind of under the radar radio station, like it was run out of a dorm. We would go around and try and get sell ad space to people and, and because it was like an alternative one, like we went to the sex stores and all kinds of places to sell ads. And I was big into voting. So I did Rock the Vote. I just always wanted to be doing something productive.
So what did you do after college?
I joined AmeriCorps for the year after college, and ended up going to an elementary school, just 10 miles away from the one I went to when I was a kid. But while there, I learned that it was two entirely different school, like educational systems in our country, because it was the St. Louis City public school system, and just in the world was different. And it was really eye opening to see that sort of inequality and inequity. I'm just like, I lived my whole life in this city and had no idea what was occurring 10 miles down the road because of the segregated lives that we live. Right. And so from that experience, I wanted to be part of the solution but you learn the system is much bigger than you.
And then you came to UNC for graduate school?
I came to UNC for the Communication Department, because it was a critical cultural studies department, where I knew I can study topics and issues that matter to me, but come at it with the lens of critical race studies. And also, I've always been interested in communication. That was my major when I was an undergrad. I said it this way to a friend the other day, I want to figure out the right thing to say, and the best way to say it in order to try to make it better.
And as I went on to get my PhD and I was really interested in the ways that messages about racial difference just surround us. They’re the materials we make sense of ourselves and our world by, and I feel like we need to be noticing them and interrupting them and every at opportunity that we have.
And professional communication has also just always interested me because it's how we get things done. I'm very interested in the ways how we get things done. The status quo, our everyday lived reality perpetuates oppression. And so when a job opened up at the Business School that I heard about, I felt really excited. I really wanted to stay at UNC because of my commitment to public schools, I had gone to public schools, I had worked at that elementary school. And I love the Carolina Covenant, just this in the commitment in the constitution of the state that 80% of students have to come from North Carolina, and I think just shifts the entire meaning of what it is to work for an institution. And so I got this job at the Business School, I was lucky enough to get it. So now I got my masters, my PhD, and now I work at UNC, which is pretty rare, actually.
How do you think that perspective helps you as a Union Board member?
I've seen the Student Union from the Graduate Student side because I was 23 or 24 when I came here. So l I've been to CAPS, I've gone to the football and basketball games, I celebrated on Franklin Street. And I can kind of relate seeing the institution from both sides is kind of a really, I think, a unique and empowering experience, because I can relate to the student experience. And I can see how the structures and systems work that shaped that student experience.
What goals do you have as a board member?
Especially in 2020 it’s about looking at these systems and who typically has power, and if I can use my privilege or access to resources to help create what Darian Abernathy's vision is, then that's what I want to do. That sounds really meaningful to me. And I also just love collaboration, which you don't get enough of as a professor, there's a lot of working by yourself. It's very hard to make grading or lesson planning a collaborative adventure. Getting to work with students is just my joy. So the opportunity to be part of a group of people who are committed to you and see students who are representing organizations that also just there because they care about each other, and really work on things and get my elbows dirty while I’m helping.
When I was in college, I was in I had a different club meeting every week, every day. I like, and I started my own club, and I was I ran for student government. I just always loved the creativity and the possibilities that come when you're doing collaborative work at Union. Like it feels like the possibilities are really big, which is a very lovely feeling.
Carolina Union Board Member Julia Clark is vice president of the Black Student Movement. A sophomore from Washington, DC, Clark is an experienced organizer and advocate for social justice causes. Read more about her background and goals for the Union below.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m a sophomore double majoring in Political Science and African and African-American Diaspora Studies. I’m from Brazil originally and grew up in Washington, DC. So I’m a dual citizen and fluent in Portuguese. My Afro-Latinx identity is very important to me. The main focus of most of my work is surrounding racial equity and social justice. Right now, I serve as Black Student Movement Vice President and on the Union Board I’m part of the James Cates committee. I also work on giving additional resources to minority survivors of sexual assault.
I founded a student organization called Students for Change and was successful in removing a Confederate name from my high school and changing it to Justice High School, and that was probably my first real exposure into activism and grassroots organizing. In college, I have continued that and recently I have been active in the Black Lives Matter movement, working not only with the organization in Washington, but also organizing in the Chapel Hill community. This summer BSM hosted a protest that had over 1,000 people so it was really cool.
Was there a moment that you knew activism and justice work was going to be your focus?
I actually get this question a lot and it’s difficult to answer because for Black children there is never really a point where we decide we want to be activists. Especially Black children in predominantly white spaces, which is what I grew up in. It’s not a choice. We kind of have to be an activist in order to defend ourselves and to be able to have half of the same respect as our peers get. Starting from when I was little, I don’t remember a time where race has not impacted my life. I don’t remember a time where I wasn’t conscious of my own race and how it inhibited me from achieving or wanting to achieve the things I wanted to do in life. When I was little it wasn’t seen as activism. It was surviving in an environment that was hostile. Then I as I grew older I realized that just surviving was not enough. It’s not enough to just advocate for myself so I can get by. I need to ask for more and do more and push the limits more, not only to make my life better as a Black woman, but also to make other minorities lives better in the same scope.
How far does your work in activism go back?
I’ve always been involved in activism. My family is an activist family as well. My father was an activist on UNC’s campus. He protested UNC’s ties to apartheid. And my grandfather was also involved in the Civil Rights Movement and was a prominent leader of the Attica Prison Riot which advocated not only for criminal justice reform but also for religious freedom. So that legacy has been part of my family and that strength has been passed onto me, but learning how to use it and hone it is something I’ve had to work on. And my first real exposure to community activism would be my freshman year of high school when I decided I wanted to change the name of my high school which seemed like a really big thing. Since I went to high school in Northern Virginia, that wasn’t really something considered. It was before Charlottesville, it was before the movement of taking down statues and taking down names began. So it was really difficult to get started and that was the first exposure for me in terms of community organizing and community activism. But personally, I think that all Black children are forced to be advocates in their own spaces because if nobody is fighting for us then we are forced to fight for ourselves.
You said it was hard to get started. What advice or encouragement would you give to someone who is starting on their own path of being an activist?
It doesn’t take a lot, but at the same time it does take a lot. I’ll explain why. For me the only thing that I needed to get started and propel me on this path is anger and passion. And I think a lot of times, Black girls specifically are told to shy away from anger. Because we don’t want to become that stereotype of the angry Black girl. I think we should embrace it because Black women and Black girls have every right to be angry considering everything that has happened to us. Not only in my own life, but in the life of my ancestors. That anger doesn’t die with us when family members pass away. It passes on. So the anger that Black girls and Black women have now has been compounded upon generations. S shying away from it is shying away from the very power they have given you to enact change. So for me, embracing my anger instead of pushing it down was the main thing that got me started. And using that anger and passion to set a goal instead of just having unproductive anger. Because there is some anger that is productive and there is some that is destructive that will eat away at you and is not helpful. So really deciding what anger I want to use whether it be productive or destructive and learning how to hone that is what got me started. So I would say that that doesn’t take much because anger for me and a lot of a Black women comes easily because of everything we’ve been exposed to. So it didn’t take much for that to activate within me, but it takes a lot to keep up.
What goals do you have as a Carolina Union Board member?
Originally, I was asked to be a Black Student Movement representative by our president, Tamiya Troy, because she was a representative as well. I was a little bit skeptical because a lot of time what I’ve seen from our University is boards, advisory groups, committees that don’t really enact a lot of change. Instead, they are used as kind of a figureheads where the University can say, look, we have this, but not actually enacting change that would make a student’s life better. For me, my main goal joining the Carolina Union board of directors was to make the lives of Black students better. That’s really my goal wherever I go. Through Black Student Movement, everything I do is to make the life of every Black student on our campus better. And so I brought that to the Carolina Union because there have been a lot of oversights and a lot of ideas that Black people don’t talk about just because they don’t think it will happen. A memorial for James Cates is a perfect example of that. It’s something that has been talked about in the Black community ever since it began, ever since it happened. And the conversation is always with an underlying tone of disappointment because nobody thinks that any of this will ever be reconciled by the University. They never thought there would be anything honoring him. So there is a complete loss of hope, which I understand. At the same time, I believe that anybody who is able to get a seat at the table has a responsibility not only to add additional seats to the table, but to maybe decide if being at the table is the right decision in the first place. Because in my work, usually, I am one of the few Black people in the room and that’s not something that I enjoy. At the same time, being one of the Black people in the room, there is a responsibility on you to be respectable. To change the way that you speak. To change that you address others. To change your language and dilute your message so you make those who are not Black comfortable. And that’s not something that I do. I don’t aim to be respectable. I know that I am angry and I know that that anger is justified and so I use that anger righteously to make student’s lives better and Black student’s lives better specifically. So that is my goal as a member of the Board of Directors.
How do you feel like it going?
It is going better than I anticipated. When I brought up the idea of a memorial for James Cates at a meeting, I didn’t think there would be as much support as there was. I was kind of prepared to fight a little bit. I had my notes next to me with a bunch of counterpoints and arguments, so I was ready to fight because I feel like that is something that I’m used to. So the level of support has been good and I’m very optimistic about the strides we’re making. But I try to remain a little bit skeptical just to be sure because I do see that a lot oof times that new committees are formed and there is a lot of energy and that energy slowly dwindles and then you are back where you started. So I am trying to be skeptical and kind of keep that optimism but also be very careful in my work and my intentions. But I am optimistic, yes?
The energy we have now coming from a summer of Black Lives Matter protests, and all of this talk about racial reckoning and racial equity, the energy that we have now doesn’t leave in a couple months. And it should not leave in a couple months. Even now we see the care about these topics diminishing because it’s no longer trending. So I hope that not only the UNC administration but everybody in a position of influence at UNC does not shy away from the energy we have created this summer and does not shy away from the goals that we have in place just because they are no longer as media-friendly, I guess you could say. So my last words are to keep the energy up. This is not the end of a fight against racial inequity. It’s the beginning. We all need to act accordingly and keep the energy that we had last month for the next two months, three months, four months. Because it would be a disservice to have all this energy and run this race like a sprint and then just walk the rest. It’s a marathon and we all need to have the energy to sustain it.
Ryan Collins is a third-year student at the UNC School of Law and is president of the Graduate & Professional Student Federation. Learn more about his goals for the Carolina Union!
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m a third-year law student at UNC, and president of the Graduate & Professional Student Federation, and I went to undergrad here at Carolina. I served as the president of the Residence Hall Association. Before law school, I got a Master’s in Higher Education Administration from NC State and I worked in housing at UNC-Greensboro, so I have a background in Student Affairs work.
What are your priorities for the Board?
In terms of what I’m looking to bring, it’s a different perspective. I’m someone who went to Carolina as and undergrad, left, and then came back to go to law school, So I’m hoping to bring perspective because the majority of members historically and even now have tended to be undergraduate students. So I’m hoping to bring that experience and wisdom of having seen the Union evolved over time through the student lens. And certainly, I want to make sure that graduate and professional student perspective is there. Right now, we only have two seats of the 16, so I want to make sure that we have a voice at that table and that the decisions that are made reflect those interests. And that the services that Union is offering is mindful of my constituents because we fund roughly 40% of the budget. With us contributing our share of student fees, we want to make sure services are available and catered to our needs. The Union as a physical space is not one that is utilized by my constituents quite as much. Some of that is location, because a significant number of our constituents are not on this part of campus very often but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be trying to create spaces that that we can take advantage of.
So how can the Union serve graduate and professional students?
I think there are partnership opportunities that could come from this Board. I think of the work that Carolina Union Activities Board does, right now we have our own social programming component to GPSF. And that is something that I would like, frankly, to be able to phase out because we are a governing body not a programming body per se. I want to work with CUAB so they can be doing social programming that is more geared toward graduate students with their larger resources be ablet to bring more graduate and professional students into social activities on campus.
The main thing that I think the Union could also do is the larger mission of bringing people together. Bring together graduate and professional students from across campus because we tend to be very siloed, again physically, but there is also less of a reason for us to interact with people outside our pods. So I’m hoping the Union can be our partner at GPSF in trying to foster more of that and to build more of that community.
For me and a lot of graduate students, we’re here mostly for academic purposes but I also appreciate the opportunity to build connections, build networks, to interact with people from outside my program so I hope the Union can be a partner in that.
What are some differences in utilizing Union spaces and programs as a graduate student?
At some point, most undergrads are going to pass through this part of campus, it’s just more naturally going to be a place for them to gather So there is more of a natural tendency to utilize the space for programs and events and that sort of thing. So many events that appeal to undergraduates are held here, whether it's in the Auditorium or in the Great Hall. With graduate and professional students, just because we tend to be more confined to our individual programs, we have less of a reason to come to the Union. At the law school we have our own spaces to do our own programming so there is less of a need to come to this end of campus.
When you think about some grad students who are in research functions, their space is their lab, or they have an office or a grad suite where they spend a lot of their time. So there’s less of a need for a gathering space on campus. There is probably some utilization of Alpine and Wendy’s, although again depending where they are they may be plenty of options that are closer.
Programming-wise it’s similar. Graduate students may not see the programming that is offered as speaking to them or being interested in it. Part of that is not knowing that is accessible to them, but part of it is also the age and needs differences. We may have some folks right out of undergrad who are interested in the same types of social and developmental programs, but then you may have a fair amount of people who are married, they have families, this is a second career for them so they won’t want to engage in the same types of activities so it’s important to have a more focused and intentional outreach to those populations.
What’s it like to work with the board?
It’s a good group, it’s a lot of people that I have served with in other capacities whether it’s and then then on the Union staff side it is people I have interacted with too. It’s good to work with. We all have different opinions and perspectives on things and that’s valuable. I wouldn’t want us to agree on everything, but I do want to make sure we are thoughtful about decisions that are being made. We have had some spirited discussions. That highlights the importance of an organization like the Board of Directors.
Since you were an undergraduate here, do you have a favorite memory of the Union?
When I was president of the Residence Hall Association, we hosted the state conference. We had 10 or 11 schools from North Carolina who brought students who were involved in counterpart organizations on their campuses. They came here, we hosted them for a weekend of professional development with workshops and things like that. So a significant amount of our programming took place within the Union. I was on the planning committee for that and my friend was Ramses so I managed to convince him to come and be a part of our opening ceremony. It was funny, you had students from all over, including NC State that were excited about getting pictures with Ramses. That was a lot of fun. And then 5 years later we were back here again and I was back as advisor of RHA at UNC-Greensboro. so I was back in the Great Hall again and it was great to see it again and see it come full circle.
Carolina Union Board of Directors member Shakoor Afzal is vice president of the UNC Muslim Students Association. Read more about his goals for the Carolina Union below!
Can you tell us about yourself?
I’m a junior studying Economics and with a minor in Statistics. My hometown is Apex, North Carolina, so I'm pretty local. I'm with the UNC Muslim Students Association and I'm also on UNC Bhangra Elite, which is a traditional collegiate dance team. So those are my main two involvements on campus.
How did you become involved with the Union Board?
Well, it kind of all linked with MSA. I came in as a freshman and applied as freshman representative, and now I'm serving as vice president. And one of the things that I talked about with my president was this opportunity that we had to have this seat on the board. And some of the things that we discussed, were, what exactly are we going to gain from this? And how exactly can we can we benefit? And how exactly can they benefit from our presence?
What are your priorities as a representative of MSA?
The biggest thing was just understanding that us representing a large minority on campus, there's a voice that that needs to be represented. And that's the responsibility that we take on ourselves. And we hold that dear to our heart. But some of the things that we did talk about specifically was our Muslim members and the needs that they have for the upcoming semester, specifically, for spring 2021. The holy month of Ramadan comes once a once a year, and usually because of the lunar calendar, it will shift back 20 or so days. And so before last year, it wasn't really an issue for Muslims on campus to fast every day or to or to go for their daily nightly prayer, which happens every day for one month. And these types of things are really important, and they're really emphasizing the religion. And luckily, we were able to have it during the summer after final exams. But this coming semester is going to be the first semester where we'll have the entire month of Ramadan during the spring semester. I believe it's going to start somewhat in mid-April, and it will end around mid-May. So that's one of the things that we wanted to focus on is hoping that the Union could accommodate for the special circumstances and allow for us to utilize the Union's resources to better help our members, especially with the daily nightly prayers that we have on this special month. It's important that we have a special space or is there space so that those who are able to pray, have the opportunity to do so.
How has your experience been working on the Board?
It’s been really eye opening. I really enjoy the fact that there are a lot of organizations that are a part of the Board meetings. One of the things I really benefit from is when we all take a moment to kind of just give our updates about what groups are doing. It kind of gives a way for to network our events, if need be, and reach out and ask for assistance in any ways that we need to promote our events to promote our daily agendas, or to honestly just give updates about what exactly our organizations or other organizations are, what our goals are, and what we are looking to attain. We’re able to have that connection with other board members, where we're able to voice our opinion, our concerns, and share the things that we hear. So it’s an important dialogue.
How do you think the Board and the Carolina Union can help students?
Well, I think it just comes down to what exactly the students are in need of and the resources that the Union can provide. I do feel like the Carolina Union is doing a great job and providing, you know, that sort of that sort of resource for people to reach out to and ask for help or advice, especially with, with how this year has been going. And I know, it's probably been very difficult providing resources and being like accommodating. So I appreciate the fact that I've been able to have the privilege of serving on the board this year.
As a student board member of the Southeastern Greek Leadership Council for the 2020-21 academic year, UNC junior Derrick Davis is focused on ensuring that the SGLC’s annual conference provides a forum for issues that are important to Black campus leaders.
“With everything that has happened over the summer and this year, I brought up topics that I feel like should be addressed ,” Davis said, referring to the Black Lives Matter movement and calls for more attention on institutional racism in the United States. “That means getting speakers that touch on how we can serve as leaders while addressing racism.”
Davis, who is a president of the Theta Omicron Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., attended the SGLC conference last year, and while there saw opportunities to improve the experience for students of color, including members of National Pan-Hellenic Council and Multicultural Greek Council organizations. For example, there was a lack of vendors selling apparel with the letters of organizations from those two councils.
“I was looking forward to buying something,” Davis said. “But there really wasn’t any opportunity, so I was bummed by that. I think it would be a good opportunity for us and for the vendor to make money.”
Davis’ passion for issues of justice and equity is rooted in the support of his family and the experiences of attending a mostly white high school in Tacoma, Washington.
“Growing up, I was very fortunate to have a strong village,” Davis said. “That helped me become who I am today. I always wanted to give back and help others in the Black community do well since we are so marginalized.”
Davis, a Hispanic Linguistics major with minors in Military Leadership and African Diaspora Studies, is deeply involved in student and community life at UNC. He co-chaired the Black Men United Committee of the Black Student Movement, volunteered with the Communiversity Youth Program, served on the Multicultural Affairs and Diversity Outreach Committee of Student Government, and assisted with UNC Special Olympics programs. All of this is in addition to serving as a Resident Advisor in Ram Village and being a UNC Army ROTC cadet.
Davis, who uses a color-coded Google calendar stay on schedule, said that at times he had struggled to keep pace with his many commitments, but his energy remains high because he feels strongly about his work and his ability to improve life at Carolina.
“Since we are at a predominantly white institution, just the lack of diversity and inclusion makes me want to improve campus and make it a better space for Black students because there are times that I have not felt comfortable or have experienced implicit biases,” Davis said. “So I just want to do my part and fix things to help UNC be a better place.”
He is also inspired by the motto of his fraternity, which is “achievement in every field of human endeavor”.
“Everyone is like-minded and working toward the same goals of achievement,” Davis said as he talked about the connection he felt to his own fraternity chapter as well as the national organization. “Whether that be in service or professional life, our brothers really live up to that no matter where you go.”
It’s a commitment that Davis will bring to ensuring that the 2021 SGLC conference is inclusive and relevant to the issues that matter most to Black students.
“The main thing is bringing perspective” Davis said. “I want to make sure that perspective is there, and that we are represented and keeping everyone’s best interests in mind.”
Congratulations to Carolina Union Guest Services Manager Bonita Brown for 10 years of service at the Union! Known among student and professional staff at the Union as a supportive and caring colleague, Bonita brings a positive spirit that lifts all of those around her and makes life at the Union better every day.
After a career as a customer service representative and teller at a bank, Bonita started at the Union as Box Office Assistant Manager. She has since progressed to Box Office Manager and now Guest Services Manager. Bonita has won multiple awards for her service to the UNC community. In 2012 she was a recipient of the Student Affairs Employee Excellence Award and in 2018 she was named both the Federal Work-Study Supervisor of the year 2018, Carolina Union Un-song hero
She has also actively served on multiple committees at the Union and UNC including the Social Committee, the Client Appreciation Committee, and the executive committee of the Employee Forum.
We asked Bonita a few questions about her 10 years at the Union.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Working with the students. I never know what to expect, which keep me on my toes. Ready to pivot at any moment.
What are you looking forward to most in the coming year at your job?
With the pandemic and other things going left, I am looking forward to being back onsite and being in contact with the students, professional staff, and guests of the Union.
Can you tell us about a day when you most looked forward to coming into your job?
The first day of the semester FDOC. I look forward to seeing the returning student staff and meeting our incoming freshman's.
How do you overcome challenges?
Most importantly, remembering to breath. Facing the challenge head on and not procrastinating thinking it will go away.
Bonita, thank you for all you do! The Carolina Union is so lucky to have you!
As the 2020 election cycle draws to a close, there may be a range of responses to the results and questions about what the future holds. Several programs throughout UNC can help students prepare for and navigate their feelings about and responses to the elections.
UNC has created a website to serve as a central hub for information about support, programs and events to help the UNC community following a difficult and divisive campaign year. Please visit electioncarolina.unc.edu/ for information and a calendar of upcoming events. Additionally, we are listing two upcoming programs below:
Post Election 2020
Join faculty members from UNC School of Law and UNC’s Department of Political Science as they answer questions about election law, constitutional law, state and federal court systems, laws relating to demonstrations/protests and more. Panels of faculty experts in law and politics will come together for six non-partisan discussions to address the most pressing legal and political issues that arise in the days and weeks following the election. Topics for each session will be determined by current events. No two sessions will be the same.
Registration is required for each session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Wednesday, Nov. 4: 7:30 pm
Thursday, Nov. 5: 7:00 pm
Monday, Nov. 9: 7:00 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 11: 8:00 pm
Monday, Nov. 16: 8:00 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 18: 8:00 pm
Panelists include Professors Mike Gerhardt, Andy Hessick, Carissa Hessick, Bill Marshall, Eric Muller, Kerrel Murray and Ted Shaw from Carolina Law and Professors Jason Roberts and Sarah Treul Roberts from UNC’s Department of Political Science.
Living Room Conversations on Anxiety and the Election
Have you read the headline news about the election and found your blood pressure rise and your mood change? Do you find your inner peace shaken by the stress of America’s election season? How do we set boundaries for our own mental and emotional health, as well as have meaningful conversations with others when so much weight and importance is placed on a political event? How do we create the kind of atmosphere that will help ourselves, our communities and our country?
Join the Carolina Center for Public Service, the Campus Y and Student Life and Leadership on Nov. 2 from 5-6:45 p.m. for a virtual Living Room Conversations event on Anxiety and the Election. Register ahead of time here to join on Zoom.
Living Room Conversations on the 2020 Election – Concerns and Aspirations
Even as the voting ends, the 2020 election season progresses. Countless voices clamor for our attention, our donations, and our time. This conversation event will be an opportunity to share and reflect on our perspectives with others, cutting through the noise to seek a more productive exchange about our different values and hopes for the future.
Join the Carolina Center for Public Service, the Campus Y and Student Life and Leadership on Nov. 4 from 12-1:45 p.m. for a virtual Living Room Conversations event on 2020 Election – Concerns and Aspirations. Register ahead of time here to join on Zoom.
Living Room Conversations offers a simple, structured way to practice communicating in small groups while building understanding and relationships. Contact Ryan Nilsen at [email protected] with any questions about the event.
Note: As the November 3 election approaches, the Carolina Union encourages students to visit this resource page for information on how to get registered and vote.
Civic issues and politics have been a passion for Carolina senior Lawton Ives since he first stepped on campus. In his time at Carolina, he has served in student government, held a leadership role at Carolina’s Institute of Politics, and volunteered in Triangle-area elementary schools to teach civics and history.
So Ives was a natural fit for the role of student coordinator for civic engagement when the Carolina Union’s office of Student Life & Leadership was looking to fill that position in the spring as the 2020 election cycle was starting.
The coordinator is charged with building connections between student organizations to tie together their efforts to help students engage in civic and political life. SLL Director Dr. Bobby Kunstman said the position was created to build the necessary bridges between student groups.
“There are a lot of student organizations doing quality work at UNC in regards to civic engagement,” Dr. Kunstman said. “But because they were working independently of each other, there was a lot of overlap in the work they were doing. This was a great opportunity to bring the groups to the table to help the identify ways they can begin to collaborate on this important work together.”
Through weekly sessions with organizations such as NC PIRG, the Civic Engagement Action Coalition and the Center for Public Service, Ives’ work has helped political engagement in tangible ways. He has helped extend the reach of a text bot that helps UNC students get important voting information, and his working group has contacted professors of large lecture classes about sharing voting registration information with students.
“We’re trying to make the Carolina community stronger around civic and political involvement rather than building an individual organization or individual effort,” Ives said. “It’s easy for groups to get caught up in their own programming, but this is an area where we’ll be at our best if we understand how our efforts can fit in with other things that are happening here with other students or professional staff.”
In the leadup to this November’s election, there are four pillars to Ives’ work:
Sharing information on how, where and when to vote
Sharing information about who is on the ballot, especially in local elections
Sharing ideas for civic engagement opportunities after this election
Sharing ideas for civic engagement upon graduation
Ives also hosts a regular podcast as part of SLL’s HeelTalks series where he interviews guests about civic engagement topics. His guests have ranged from a former North Carolina Supreme Court Justice to a college student running a socially-conscious business.
“These are people with very different paths, but they have found their own niche of how to contribute or give back,” Ives said. “I hope it helps people decide where they want to go in their own path and find their own ways to get involved.”
As the days count down to the November 3 elections, Ives hopes his work will help students understand all the ways they can stay involved after casting a ballot.
“There are so many things you can do, and I want my work to be bigger than the particular day where people vote,” Ives said. “We can all think about particular local issues that affect us, and there are so many ways for UNC students to get involved whether it is service on a local commission or serving a cause you care about. There are many ways we can give back.”
Please join the Carolina Union’s office of Student Life & Leadership for Leadership Week 2020, a virtual series of programs and this October 19-24.
In partnership with UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Smith Leadership Initiative, Leadership Week will offer programs around the theme of Leadership in a Digital Age. Programs will help participants hone leadership skills at a time when social, academic and work interactions increasingly take place in digital spaces.
“The theme feels especially timely right now,” said Anthony Wright, event organizer and program coordinator for SLL. “We’re really focusing on what leadership looks like in digital spaces. For example, how do you show values across a Zoom chat? How do you lead in a social media platform?”
Sessions scheduled for the week include:
Protecting your time when the digital world demand constant attention
Bridging differences at a time when social media divides us
Building movements in social media
Personal branding in a digital environment
The week will culminate with the Bell Leadership Symposium, a half-day event for students to engage with professionals and UNC alum in various workshops on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Students who attend sessions can enter drawings for prize packs to be given away at the conclusion of the week.
Events are open to all undergraduate and graduate students. To learn more and register, visit HeelLife.unc.edu and search “Leadership Week” or go to go.unc.edu/Bell2020.
Details from the CarolinaTogether website:
Who: UNC students, living both on- and off-campus who don’t have symptoms, have not been notified of close contact status, and who have not tested positive for COVID in the past 90 days.
Where: Carolina Union Gallery Area, Outside of the Great Hall
When: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., No appointment needed.
How often: Testing every 5-9 days is recommended.
Cost: Free
How: Saliva-based specimen collection; no nasal swabs.
Parking: There will be 10 spaces reserved in the Undergraduate Lot (N8) Lot.
Do not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum for 30 minutes before getting tested. Detailed testing instructions are available by pdf and video.
