geted colleges and universities because he
feels the topic of slave reparations needs to
be raised on the campuses, and because it
is cheaper to run ads in the college papers
than nation-wide publications.
The On the Wake of Emancipation
Campaign was organized by students as a
way to bring attention to unfair and dis
criminatory acts on campus. Students
staged a peaceful demonstration following
the publication of the Horowitz column
and marched to UNC administrative
offices in the South Building to submit a
list of demands to university officials and
give "thanks" to their emancipators.
Kristi Booker, OWEC member and BSM
president-elect, said she believes the cam
paign was formed to make students and
the campus community aware of instances
of discrimination on campus, including the
GAP and Horowitz controversies.
Although the GAP and Horowitz events
did add a spark to student sentiments,
Booker said she believes the demands
issued by OWEC would have eventually
formed on campus.
Booker said that while many BSM mem
bers are involved with OWEC, a majority
are also involved in other on-campus activ
ities, so it is hard to determine the exact
role'of the BSM in the campaign. But she
added that the campaign is not limited to
only minority students, and that OWEC
has embraced the involvement of campus
"allies" who may not be directly affected
by discrimination on campus, but who
want to make a difference. "There's a place
for everyone within the things that we re
doing," she said.
OWEC formed a list of 14 demands
touching on many areas of concern from
the absence of mandatory diversity train
ing for UNC faculty to the sub-living
wages for campus housekeepers. Booker
said she believes that meeting each of the
demands will have a positive impact on
the University's future. "All of those things
are important because it shows that we're
an inclusive university and it shows that
we are celebrating every race, every ethmc-
ity at our university," she said adding,
"These are all things that will positively
affect our campus."
Other campus organizations have joined
the fight in combating discrimination and
inshtutional racism at the University. The
Freedom Legacy Project, led by UNC grad
uate student Yonni Chapman, co-spon
sored a two-day event with the Campus Y
on the prevalence of institutional racism on
campus on March 26 and 27.
At a dinner discussion opening the two-
day affair. Chapman said the Freedom
I
Legacy Project
hopes to bring
attention to the
lack of clear
involvement of
university admin
istrators in fight
ing discrimination
and institutional
racism at UNC.
"We think that
the issue of insti
tutional racism is
not talked about
on this campus,
except by stu
dents," Chapman
said.
Chapman also
described a peti
tion sponsored by
the Freedom
Legacy Project to
replace the marker
on Saunders Hall.
Named for Col.
William Lawrence
Saunders, the
building currently
lists Saunders' ties
to the University -
as 1854 alumnus
and UNC Board of
Trustees member -
but fails to men
tion that he found
ed the N.C. branch
of the Ku Klux
Klan. Chapman
said he believes
that a new marker
should be placed
on the building
not to praise
Saunders's
involvement with
the KKK but to
give visitors of the
University an
accurate account
of who he was. He
also said similar
actions should be
taken to explore
the histories of the
namesakes of
Aycock dormitory
and Cameron Avenue.
"If you're going to honor Aycock,
Cameron and Saunders, you ought to at
least talk about who they were and how
they have contributed," he said.
Also during the discussion both
Students march to South Building to give the chancellor their list of
demands.
Chapman and UNC professor of African
and Afro-American studies Valerie
Kaalund praised the student protests,
which occurred earlier in the day. "This is a
marked day, forever changing the business
of this campus," Kaalund said.
May 2001
8