Safety update about recent campus events
The safety and well-being of our campus community is our top priority. In that vein, we would like to share a safety update related to recent events on our campus.
Dear Carolina Community,
The safety and well-being of our campus community is our top priority. In that vein, we would like to share a safety update related to recent events on our campus.
First, we will reopen the Campus Y building on Monday, May 6, with revised hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It was initially closed on Tuesday with other buildings in the area for safety reasons and concerns about after-hours door security. We are now cleaning a significant amount of debris and ensuring that hallways, entrances and exits are clear. We will continue to monitor the building.
We must support the safety and security of our entire campus and surrounding community. The recent protesters on our campus, many of whom are not students, have continually and aggressively overstepped boundaries and shown that they are not interested in a peaceful demonstration. Their actions and rhetoric prove they are willing to escalate their tactics to the point of putting everyone in danger.
In recent days, members of this group and others have caused damage to Polk Place, broken into academic buildings after hours, propped doors open to locked buildings, torn down barricades, pounded on windows and attempted to push through officers to forcibly enter South Building, hit police and other vehicles, thrown furniture in front of police vehicles injuring officers, entered classrooms during finals to cause disruptions, taken down the American flag flying over Polk Place twice, and thrown water bottles and fluids at University workers, police and administrators.
Most troubling, we have learned of an arson threat against a Jewish fraternity building and seen multiple instances of clearly antisemitic messages and threats in buildings.
Such activities cannot be tolerated, as they interfere with student learning, safety and well-being, as well as University operations. These activities are particularly disruptive at the end of the academic year, when students are taking final exams and we are preparing for our Commencement celebrations.
We have been closely watching the events happening at other universities around the country, and we have seen how demonstrations by similar groups have turned into significant disruptions to the entire community and threatened the safety of everyone involved.
We will continue to make decisions that we think best protect our community, and we are following our established procedures to assess disciplinary consequences.
We are aware there are many questions about the details surrounding a variety of University decisions and ongoing actions; please see answers to frequently asked questions.
Sincerely,
Nate Knuffman, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations
Amy Johnson, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
George Battle, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Integrity and Risk Management
