Proclamation 21-01 Condemning the Desecration of the Unsung Founders Memorial
WHEREAS, The Unsung Founders Memorial1 was dedicated in 2005 to “honor the countless enslaved and free African Americans who contributed their labor and service to the campus”2; and,
WHEREAS, The Unsung Founders Memorial was installed using funds raised by the UNC Chapel Hill Class of 2002 in conjunction with funds from the University Provost’s office to begin to reckon with the University’s historical support of the Confederacy and the erasure of the contributions of those the memorial is meant to celebrate; and,
WHEREAS, there is a recent history of acts of intimidation and threats by persons from outside the University community specifically targeting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students, staff, and faculty and this incident clearly represents yet another act of intimidation by white supremacists targeting members of the University community on the basis of race; and,
WHEREAS, the desperate need to ensure physical and emotional safety of the UNC Chapel Hill community—which has been reiterated for decades by students, staff, and faculty and recently amplified by the UNC Black Student Movement in their “Demands for Our Community”—remains unaddressed by Senior Leadership and, therefore, unmet;
THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED, we, the UNC-CH Employee Forum, on behalf of the staff employees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, do on this, the 15th day of July 2021, hereby vehemently and unequivocally condemn the presence and actions of the white-supremacist protesters on UNC’s campus on July 11, 2021, as well as past actions by other hate-groups and protesters using hate speech.
ALSO, as the seriousness of this moment and the threat to the security of the UNC Student Body and the Memorial demands decisive and appropriate action from Senior Leadership to address the concerns raised by the Carolina Black Caucus and the Black Student Movement, we hereby stand in solidarity with and co-sign the statements of the Carolina Black Caucus (2019) and Black Student Movement (2021) and the Priority Demands (2021) presented to the Administration and Board of Governors.
Signed on behalf of the Employee Forum,
Katie Musgrove, Chair
Keith Hines, Vice Chair
Tiffany Carver, Secretary
Tracy Wetherby-Williams, Treasurer
Kevin Robinson, Parliamentarian