Agenda - 4-c - Resolution in Response to Recent Acts of Racial and Ethnic Intimidation on the Campus of UNC-Chapel Hill

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RES-2019-025 2 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS A RESOLUTION IN RESPONSE TO RECENT ACTS OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC INTIMIDATION ON THE CAMPUS OF UNC-CHAPEL HILL WHEREAS, Orange County is home to many students, employees, and alumnae/-i of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, including an estimated 29,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and the life of the southeastern portion of our County is intertwined with the life of the University; and WHEREAS, on March 31, 2019, two persons desecrated the Unsung Founders Memorial in McCorkle Place on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus by defacing it with racist graffiti and with urine; and someone vandalized an installation outside Hanes Art Center with racist language; and WHEREAS, on March 16, 2019, persons associated with a white supremacist group carried firearms and other weapons onto the UNC-Chapel Hill campus in violation of the North Carolina General Statutes and campus policy; and an Alert Carolina emergency notification was not issued; and no arrests were made and no citations or trespass notices were issued; and WHEREAS, on April 10, 2019 a statement was released by UNC Hillel that a number of anti-Semitic flyers have been found in Davis Library with references to "an evil Jewish plot" and the missive, "do everything you can to fight the silent covert Jewish attempt to enslave and kill good Americans"; and WHEREAS, student anti-racist activists have been prohibited indefinitely from entering certain areas of the campus, including McCorkle Place, despite having been found not guilty of the criminal charges related to their trespass notices or having had those charges dismissed; and WHEREAS, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Carolina Black Caucus, and others have called on UNC-Chapel Hill to take bolder action in response to acts of racial and ethnic intimidation and threats by white supremacists to the safety of the community; and WHEREAS, the Orange County Board of Commissioners appreciates Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz's statement that "we must nurture an environment where all people in our community can live, learn and work without fear"; and the Board is encouraged by the arrests on April 8 of the persons believed to have desecrated the Unsung Founders Memorial; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Commissioners urges its neighbor and partner, UNC-Chapel Hill, to rescind trespass warnings against student anti-racist activists; to press charges and issue trespass warnings against persons who on March 16 carried firearms onto the campus; to clarify when the community may expect the presence of an armed person on or near the campus to trigger an Alert Carolina emergency notification; and to invite community members not necessarily affiliated with the University to participate in the campus safety commission being convened by the interim chancellor. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County wishes to partner with UNC-Chapel Hill in a shared commitment to helping students feel safe through better communications, education about the Orange County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies, opportunities to participate in County programming and advisory committees, continued participation in the Good Neighbor Initiative, and other efforts. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board asks the Clerk to the Board to share this resolution with the interim chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill and the members of the Chapel Hill Town Council, the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners, and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. This the 16th day of April, 2019. Penny Rich, Chair Orange County Board of Commissioners