CHAPEL HILL--The task force charged with maintaining UNC Chapel Hill's historic roots has laid out a plan on how the university could continue evolution and growth.
"You can't deny the bad while proclaiming the good or proclaim the bad while denying the good. Nothing is that clean cut,” said student Victoria Seng.
"We want to make sure that we provide a good opportunity for members of our community, whether that be students, faculty, staff or even visitors,” said History Task Force Co-Chair Winston Crisp.
The task force that was formed in August is working with the Board of Trustees for ways to embrace history while still evolving the campus community.
In that spirit, the university already changed the name of Saunders Hall to Carolina Hall.
And a plaque with the message:
“We honor and remember all of those who have suffered injustices at the hands of those who denied them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” will hang outside the hall.
The task force wants to develop McCorkle Place near the often defaced and controversial Silent Sam statue with art exhibits and building and sidewalk markers.
And students on campus agree, that in light of all the controversy over the last year, it's important that the university's history is explained in proper context.
"There's going to be frustration on some side, no matter what you do, and exploring the context of it both good and bad is something that should happen,” said Seng.
"It's very possible for this kind of small change on our campus to explode into huge changes in thinking and processes and just expectations around not only our country, but the world,” said student Kat Morton.
The next progress report is expected to be presented to the board in March. The History Task Force is working on placing an exhibit inside Carolina Hall noting William Saunders' role in history.
The group also has plans to create a published series on North Carolina and UNC’s campus history in digital and print form.