'The Truth Is Darker Than That'
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 128 YEARS OF SERVING UNC STUDENTS AND THE UNIVERSITY VOLUME 129, ISSUE 20 UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP ‘The truth is darker than that’ Campus Safety Commission dissolves Members say the administration ignored their recommendations By Kyle Ingram Senior Writer [email protected] UNC’s Campus Safety Commission has dissolved following disagreements between administration and commission members, who felt their recommendations regarding COVID- 19 and campus police were ignored. In an Aug. 9 letter to Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz obtained by The Daily Tar Heel, six members of the commission said that they were DTH/CYNTHIA LIU no longer willing to work toward solutions if the administration would “It’s been that way since the very beginning,” Geeta Kapur said of the systemic racism at UNC. Kapur poses for a portrait at the Old Well with her new book, not take action on them. “To Drink from the Well: The Struggle for Racial Equality at the Nation’s Oldest University,” on Sept. 7. “We have talked, listened, facilitated communications, hosted meetings, and made recommendations for two Alumna writes book on University history, racism years,” the letter said. “... During this same time, other actors in the UNC By Hannah Rosenberger Until then, the struggle for racial admitted to the UNC School of liberty, while concealing its deep governance structure, including Senior Writer equality at the nation’s oldest Law, in 1951, and one of the first connections to racism and slavery. prominent actors in the UNC System [email protected] public university continues.” African American undergraduate Robin Miura, senior editor and office, in our Board of Trustees, and The book, which will be out on students at UNC in 1955. associate publisher at Blair, the in our Board of Governors, have Geeta N. Kapur, a civil rights Sept. 21, is the first of its kind — a Both admissions, according publishing company releasing Kapur’s taken actions. These actions have lawyer and two-time UNC alumna, comprehensive look at the University’s to the photo captions, only book, said its eye-opening linear story undermined our efforts to build trust. concludes her book “To Drink from history of systemic racism from 1776 up occurred after lengthy court moves away from a sugar-coated Actions speak larger than words.” the Well: The Struggle for Racial until the end of 2020. battles, though the Supreme Court version of events. UNC Media Relations said in Equality at the Nation’s Oldest Kapur has been working on the ruled segregation in schools was “That’s the version of the University a statement to the DTH that they Public University” with these words: book for 11 years, since the day unconstitutional in Brown v. Board history that we all like to tell ourselves, appreciated the commission’s work. of Education in 1954. myself included,” Miura, who is a 1996 Though the statement mentions “After I saw those two pictures, I UNC graduate, said. “But the truth is a “path forward” for the commission, “I hope it leads to students of color feeling like (UNC) couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t get them darker than that.” signatories of the Aug. 9 letter were is their home, because it was built brick by brick by out of my head,” Kapur said. “And Much of that history includes adamant that they had no interest in the the more I looked, and the more I parallels with more recent University group being reestablished in any form. their ancestors.” asked people, ‘Did you know this? events, Kapur said. Guskiewicz established the Campus Greta N. Kapur, civil rights lawyer and UNC alumna Did you know that?’ and the more The University made national news Safety Commission in April 2019 I heard ‘no’ — the call to write the over the summer when the UNC following several incidents with white “May the injustices exposed she went to an exhibit at Wilson book just got stronger and wouldn’t Board of Trustees initially failed to supremacists who came to campus, to the light of truth within these Library about African Americans leave me alone.” offer tenure to Pulitzer Prize-winning sometimes armed, to protest the pages lead to restorative justice, in North Carolina in 2010. At an event at Flyleaf Books on journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, who toppling of UNC’s Confederate statue reparations, and healing. With At the exhibit, she saw two Thursday, Kapur said the University was set to join the Hussman School of Silent Sam. No arrests were made — the university’s $6.5 billion photos — one of the first few often romanticizes its past under endowment fund, it is possible. African American students to be its guiding principles of light and SEE ALUMNA AIMS PAGE 15 SEE MEMBERS ASK PAGE 10 SISTER, SISTER Tar Heel siblings find home away from home Dutch duo reunites for national titles. said. “We would take them from the Now, during her last semester as club and to our home.” a semester on the UNC a Tar Heel, Eva is guiding her sister With Jules acting as coach, the field hockey team through the same adjustment to girls trained side by side, day after this new country, culture and team day. Being 2.5 years apart, Eva and By Kaitlyn Schmidt that she was introduced to five years Jasmina didn’t play on the same team, Senior Writer ago. Although the rest of Eva and but built each other up regardless. [email protected] Jasmina’s family is still overseas, a “We’ve obviously had that sister is enough to make a massive conversation like, ‘Who is the better Two suitcases in hand. Nothing to University feel like home. player?’ and tried to be competitive accompany her but a lifetime of field Eva and Jasmina grew up in the against each other,” Eva said. “But at the hockey and a strong family support southeast Netherlands, in the city end of the day, we are different players system behind her. of Weert. With their father, Jules, in similar positions and have different It was Eva Smolenaars’ first time playing in lower-level leagues when strengths, and we want each other to in the United States when she flew in they were young, it wasn’t even a develop as best as we individually can.” to start her first year at UNC in 2017. question if Eva, Jasmina or their older With such a close-knit home life, it All by herself in Raleigh-Durham sister, Hana, would pick up a stick. was a surprise to her whole family when International Airport, Eva wandered H.V. Weert, the field hockey club Eva expressed interest in going abroad. to the arrivals area, where then-senior that the Smolenaars family belonged to, Although it was hard as a parent to send and fellow Netherlander, Eva van’t was only a 10-minute drive from their his daughter off to a foreign country Hoog, waited to pick her up. house. The club became the family’s alone, Jules supported Eva’s decision. This past summer, a second destination to not only train, but to Aside from the culture shock of Smolenaars sister, Jasmina, touched socialize — it was a second home. living in a new country, Eva’s first PHOTO COURTESY OF UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS down in Raleigh, ready to play for “I don’t think the field hockey UNC field hockey senior midfielder Eva Smolenaars (21) poses with her the team her sister helped to three conversations would really stop,” Eva SEE PLAYING TOGETHER PAGE 5 sister, first-year midfielder Jasmina Smolenaars (22), on Aug. 13. Home is wherever I’m with you. EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS 2 Wednesday, September 8, 2021 News The Daily Tar Heel The Daily Tar Heel COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE Established 1893 128 years of editorial freedom OC Voice: Costs of excessive drinking PRAVEENA SOMASUNDARAM EDITOR!IN!CHIEF The OC Voice is a portion of the OC victims, insurance and others payers EDITOR"DAILYTARHEEL.COM Report newsletter where local residents covering another 11 percent of the HEIDI PÉREZ!MORENO may have a platform to talk about $111 million total. And this data is EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR local issues they care about. Elinor from before the pandemic, when we MANAGING.EDITOR"DAILYTARHEEL.COM Landess is the director of the Campus & know levels of alcohol consumption ALEX BERENFELD Community Coalition in Chapel Hill. increased across the board. MULTIMEDIA MANAGING EDITOR The tragedy and the cause for MULTIMEDIA"DAILYTARHEEL.COM $111 million in one year. optimism from this study is that MADDIE ELLIS That’s a conservative estimate of how these harms are preventable. DIRECTOR OF ENTERPRISE much excessive drinking cost Orange The Campus & Community ENTERPRISEDESK"DAILYTARHEEL.COM County in 2017 alone. Hospitalizations, Coalition is committed to reducing car crashes, crime and incarceration, the harms of excessive drinking in MAYDHA DEVARAJAN absenteeism and premature deaths and around the University. ELEVATE EDITOR make up much of the costs. We recently launched several ELEVATE"DAILYTARHEEL.COM In addition to the cost burden in proven strategies designed to create ALLIE KELLY Orange County, excessive drinking is change on this issue. In mid-August, UNIVERSITY EDITOR also the county’s fourth leading cause the Chapel Hill Police Department UNIVERSITY"DAILYTARHEEL.COM of death, behind cancer and heart began collecting information from GUILLERMO MOLERO and lung diseases. people arrested for driving while CITY & STATE EDITOR In collaboration with the Chapel impaired about the last place they CITY"DAILYTARHEEL.COM Hill Campus & Community Coalition, were served alcohol. The police PJ MORALES which focuses on mitigating the harms department will then follow up with DTH PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/HELEN MCGINNIS SPORTS EDITOR from high-risk drinking, Gillings the business for an educational visit SPORTS"DAILYTARHEEL.COM School of Global Public Health to encourage adoption of the best A person holds a can of hard seltzer that contains five percent alcohol.