Chancellor says ‘long overdue’ Carolina North project will break ground in 2027 – The Daily Tar Heel

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Chancellor says ‘long overdue’ Carolina North project will break ground in 2027

Editor’s Note: The featured image at the top is from WP AI.

By Regan Butler, University Editor, January 21

@reganxbutler, @dailytarheel | [email protected]

Regan Butler is the 2025-26 university editor. She previously served as the summer university editor and a senior writer on the University Desk. Regan is a sophomore majoring in media and journalism and English with a creative writing concentration. Send tips to reganmb.68 on Signal.

Updated as of 11:02 a.m.

The Carolina North project will officially start its first phase of development this spring and is set to break ground in summer 2027, Chancellor Lee Roberts announced at the Board of Trustees University Affairs Committee meeting on Wednesday. The planned development, in the works since the early 2000s,  would act as UNC’s own satellite campus about 2 miles north of main campus.

“This will be the largest expansion of the University since the cornerstone of the Old East building was laid in 1793, over 232 years ago,” a campuswide email announcement, sent to The Daily Tar Heel in advance, states.

The BOT approved a proposal for advance planning spending authority for Carolina North on Monday during its Budget, Finance and Infrastructure Committee meeting. The proposal will grant the University $8 million to hire consultants for the project and refine the design for the proposed multi-purpose tract.

Roberts also said, in an interview with The DTH, that the University favors the site as a “good possible location” for a new iteration of the Dean E. Smith Center — amid contentious debate about where the beloved basketball arena should land.

What the Carolina North campus will host

The email announcement dubs Carolina North a multi-purpose “learn-live-work-play” area focusing on academics, research, housing,  recreation, retail and dining — for both the University and the Town of Chapel Hill. The mixed-use space will act as an extension of UNC’s current main campus foothold, with new transportation plans aiming to connect the two.

The plot of land set aside for the project is roughly 230 acres, set on a larger University-owned site that consists of about 1,000 acres — west of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Chapel Hill.

First imagined in 2006, then formalized in the 2007 Carolina North Master Plan, the development project has been postponed over the years due to UNC contending with “constrained resources,” according to UNC’s facilities website. In the meantime, the 2019 Campus Master Plan opted for renovating existing infrastructure and keeping new builds on the main campus.

Roberts said an increased demand for STEM degrees and the tremendous demand for housing both on campus and in The Town of Chapel Hill were forces that drove UNC to take action on the Carolina North project now.

As incoming class sizes continue to grow, on-campus housing and facilities needs at UNC surge. The chancellor said that UNC’s projected 2,000-student expansion over the next four years heightened the need for space in all aspects of campus life. Carolina North will host housing for undergraduate and graduate students and local workforce families.

“My question is not ‘Why now?’  but ‘What has taken so long?’” Roberts said. “To me, this is long overdue.”

Carolina North’s academic and research infrastructure will have a particular focus in certain STEM fields:  the health sciences, artificial intelligence, data and biomedical engineering, with an emphasis interdisciplinary research. 

UNC will also partner with the Town to implement the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project by 2030, which includes dedicated bus lanes between the campuses aimed at improving traffic flow. Multi-use paths for pedestrians and biking, separate from vehicle traffic, are also included in the project.

Recreation on the site includes planned additions of “civic, cultural, artistic and performing arts spaces,” and also “enhanced connections” with Carolina North Forest trails.

The Dean Dome dilemma

No decisions have been made about the Dean E. Smith Center yet, Roberts said, but UNC contends Carolina North is a good possible spot. 

“There’s no perfect location,” he said.

Before spending a large sum on renovating the Smith Center — an estimated $80 to 100 million minimum needed for a roof replacement alone — the chancellor said UNC needs to step back and consider whether that is the best use of the money.

But, Roberts said UNC is still considering multiple possibilities in what he projects will be a 40-or-50-year decision: renovating the arena, building something new close by, or building something new in a different location.

There has been some high-profile opposition to the relocation of the Smith Center, including from former men’s basketball coach Roy Williams, who made a call-to-action video condemning the consideration and promoting a petition created by community members. 

In the video, Williams said his predecessor and the center’s namesake, former coach Dean Smith, implored him to help keep the center on campus. Many community members and signatories have expressed a desire to keep the center in its current location, primarily so it is accessible to students hoping to attend home games on campus.

Roberts said it is a good thing there is a wide range of views on the matter because it indicates a passion for UNC basketball. 

“But one thing that’s not an option for the arena is the status quo,” he said.

Funding streams, sustainability

Carolina North projects will be funded through a mix of internal and external streams: state support, University trust funds, revenue-backed debt, private donations and third-party investment, the campuswide email states.

The go-ahead on this project comes amid the implementation of $70 million in budget cuts across the University, due to what Roberts has called an era of necessary “belt-tightening.” 

Community members were recently critical of the administration’s decision to close UNC’s six area studies centers as part of these cuts, with more centers and institutes and academic program slashes soon to come. But, Roberts said he thinks these cuts can coexist with spending on a large developmental undertaking like Carolina North.

“I really squarely reject the idea that if we are retrenching in one area, we can’t be growing somewhere else,” he said. “We have an incredibly complex organization, and I think as the world changes around us, we’re almost always going to be growing in some areas and shrinking in others.”

In the 2007 outline for Carolina North, there was a focus on sustainability in construction and maintenance, but the campuswide email announcement did not mention any plans of the sort.

In 2010, UNC pledged to end coal use by 2020, but went back on that promise — and now, the University is beholden to a plan to be carbon neutral by 2040. UNC has seen immense opposition to the use of coal power on campus from community members, notably the student climate advocacy group Sunrise UNC.

When The DTH asked Roberts if the University would pledge to make Carolina North carbon neutral, he said that “there is a lot that can and will be done with sustainability on the campus.” 

He also added that a benefit of completely new construction, as opposed to remodels, is that it allows for usage of the latest LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.

The announcement of this plan comes amid facilities workers at UNC voicing concerns of an overburdening workload, citing fewer specialized employees. On whether Carolina North would spark a proportional hiring wave for maintenance staff, Roberts said the University needs to “provide the resources to maintain our facilities as we continue to grow.”

Next steps

To channel community feedback throughout Carolina North’s development, the University is forming an “umbrella advisory group” — representing “faculty, staff, students, alumni, trustees, former student-athletes, and community stakeholders,” according to the email announcement.

Roberts announced  the committee’s three co-chairs at the BOT’s University Affairs committee meeting: Trustee Brian Allen, Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government Anita Brown-Graham and Aaron Nelson, President and CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.

The University will soon seek advance planning funds for the project, and issue qualification requests this spring. UNC projects to begin groundbreaking in summer 2027, the email states.

Phase 1 of the project will include evaluations of “student housing, academic and research space, multi-family residential, hotel and ground-floor retail,” largely through public-private partnerships.

@reganxbutler

@dailytarheel | [email protected]

 See Also: https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2026/01/20/roy-williams-urges-unc-to-renovate-dean-dome-instead-of-building-off-campus-arena/ and https://www.cbs17.com/sports/unc/roy-williams-passionate-plea-keep-north-carolina-tar-heels-basketball-dean-smith-center/ and updates for latest news.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Chancellor says ‘long overdue’ Carolina North project will break ground in 2027 – Daily Tar Heel

Column: When this is over, we will need another Nuremberg – The Daily Tar Heel

Column: When this is over, we will need another Nuremberg
By Nakai Moore, January 19, 2026

There comes a point when euphemism becomes collaboration. What Immigration Customs Enforcement is doing in Minneapolis is not immigration enforcement, domestic security or a policy disagreement between parties. This is an actual federally sanctioned paramilitary organization. We often ask with the power of hindsight how democratic societies sleepwalk into fascism. We imagine sudden coups and suspension of elections. History is far less theatrical. It happens when opportunities for prosecution are deferred, when leaders like Merrick Garland and Jack Smith treat extraordinary abuses as legally delicate rather than existentially dangerous, and when the state refuses to punish those who violate the Constitution and normalize terror.

That is why accountability must now be uncompromising: this is how fascism is confronted, the way it always has been — through prosecution, dismantlement and the unambiguous assertion that state terror will be met with law, not indulgence.

They need to be Nuremberg ’d.

For the past couple of months, there has been a constant stream of videos coming from across the country of ICE harassing people — detaining people for their accents, wearing masks concealing their faces, demanding proof of citizenship, driving unmarked vehicles, beating people, all culminating with the extrajudicial killing of Renee Good. In Minneapolis, citizens are openly carrying and defending their neighborhoods. Riots and protests have proceeded daily for the past week.

ICE has continuously assaulted Fourth Amendment rights and is backed by the Department of Justice, which would rather probe and investigate Democratic politicians than those who abused power and enabled this machinery. Figures such as Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi must be confronted by the full, relentless authority of the law with the next Department of Justice. Not symbolically, not cautiously and not years too late, but through aggressive, evidence‑driven prosecutions that treat complicity in constitutional violations as the grave offense that it is.

After Jan. 6, 2021, the Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland and Special Counsel Jack Smith approached open insurrection with caution and deference. Their soft, timid handling of the insurrection — plagued by delay, restraint and an institutional fear of appearing political — sent a message that power could act with impunity. This message did not evaporate; it metastasized, now amplified in Minneapolis and across the country as federal immigration agents operate with overwhelming force and unchecked authority. What we are reaping today — militarized deployments of DHS agents, legal challenges accusing the federal operation of racism and the fatal shooting of a civilian in broad daylight — is the consequence of a Justice Department too hesitant to halt abuses at the source.

For examples on how to conduct this, one must look no further than historical precedent. After the Second World War, the Nuremberg Trials established a bedrock principle: leaders who use the machinery of the state to terrify, suppress and ignore basic rights are not exempt from prosecution simply because they held office. That unprecedented tribunal did not debate ideology or excuse political intent — it demanded accountability for crimes against humanity, cutting off the head of fascism so the body could not regrow.

More recently, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison for his role in plotting a coup and attempting to overthrow constitutional order, demonstrating that even powerful national figures can be held accountable for their attempts to undermine democracy. Our Supreme Court has ruled contrarily, granting presumptive presidential immunity to sitting and past presidents for all official acts.

Regardless, we need to establish a fundamental value: no grace for fascism, no tolerance for state terror. By cutting off the head of the snake, dismantling the agencies that enabled abuse and affirming that such violations carry consequence and punishment, we not only prosecute wrongdoing but also inoculate society against the normalization of fascism. If we fail again, history will not forgive our hesitation.

@dthopinion | [email protected] | The Daily Tar Heel encourages reader feedback and dialogue. Send us feedback and continue the discussion on social media. 

Editor’s Note: The column points to the future, and yes, we should have another Nuremberg Trial, Trump Version, after we take back the House and Senate, impeach Trump, and then, begin the trials in World Courts. I believe we must, to save American and World Democracy. I recommend viewing the YouTube videos about the first Nuremberg Trial. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_and_the_Nazis:_Evil_on_Trial (via Wikipedia), and the documentary from 2024 on Netflix, if you can: https://www.netflix.com/title/81561941
— DrWeb

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Column: When this is over, we will need another Nuremberg – Daily Tar Heel

UNC schools of data science and information science to merge, forming unnamed ‘School of AI’ – The Daily Tar Heel

University

UNC schools of data science and information science to merge, forming unnamed ‘School of AI’

By Daneen Khan

Community Engagement Managing Editor

October 9

The UNC School of Data Science and Society and the School of Information and Library Science will be consolidating into a new school focused on artificial intelligence.

SILS and SDSS faculty were informed of the decision on Wednesday at two independent school meetings before it was announced publicly at 1:04 p.m. Thursday, via an email from Chancellor Lee Roberts and Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Jim Dean to the UNC community.

According to a Q and A webpage launched by the Office of the Provost, a formal timeline for the consolidation is still to be determined, but the administration does not expect any changes before the end of the 2025-26 academic year.

“Both SILS and SDSS bring distinct strengths and areas of excellence to Carolina — technical expertise, humanistic inquiry and a deep understanding of the societal implications of emerging technologies,” Roberts and Dean wrote. “The new school will grow and amplify the impact of research and scholarship, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and expand opportunities to respond to the challenges of our time.”

New leadership structure

Stanley Ahalt, the current dean of SDSS, will serve as the inaugural dean of the new school. Jeffrey Bardzell, the current dean of SILS, “has accepted a secondary appointment as Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer and Vice Provost for AI,” according to the campus-wide email.

At the time of publication, Bardzell and Ahalt did not respond to The Daily Tar Heel’s requests for comment.

SILS opened in 1931 as the UNC School of Library Science before being renamed in 1987. The School offers an undergraduate major in Information Science, a minor in Information Systems, multiple dual bachelor’s-graduate degree programs and six graduate programs in both information and library sciences.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: UNC schools of data science and information science to merge, forming unnamed ‘School of AI’ – Daily Tar Heel

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Column: When one of us is silenced, all of us are – The Daily Tar Heel

Opinion

Column: When one of us is silenced, all of us are

By Sydney Baker , Owen Baxter and Madelyn Rowley

Published Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025

On Sept. 10, conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at a “Prove Me Wrong” event at Utah Valley University. In the days following the event, a slew of public responses — some horrified, some celebratory, some political, some analytical — engulfed all channels of sociopolitical communication. The presidential administration and the executive bureaucracy responded with a sweeping implication: those who celebrate or rationalize his death should be censored.

While guest-hosting an episode of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” Vice President JD Vance encouraged Americans to take direct action against responses too callous for his liking. “Call them out,” he said, “and hell, call their employer.” The chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, delivered a mob boss-esque conviction to the employers of satirists and late-night commentators: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” Attorney General Pam Bondi recently said on a podcast that the federal government “will absolutely target” and “go after” people who express “hate speech.” 

This response makes one thing deafeningly clear: President Donald Trump and the current administration do not care to uphold truly free speech, despite years of insisting otherwise.

In the minutes after Kirk was shot, Republican figureheads condemned the killing of a person who was exercising his right to free speech. Yet many of these figureheads quickly lapsed into a contradictory pledge: initiating the silencing of others spouting rhetoric they personally disagree with.

Aside from being hypocritical, this vow is blatantly unconstitutional. Even if the censored commentary could appropriately be deemed “hate speech,” it would still be protected under the First Amendment. Any UNC journalism student in the most introductory course on media law could testify to this truth — as long as speech does not constitute a true threat, incitement to imminent lawless action, harassment or defamation, it is protected. And although private employers may deal out whatever consequences they deem appropriate to their employees, this strong-arming of private entities to take specific, state-sanctioned action is inorganic — and unconstitutional. If the president and attorney general do not understand free speech law, they are grossly unfit for their positions. If they do, these actions directly defy legal precedent.

Without a foundation of free speech, America would not exist. Social commentary, regardless of if it is believed to be distasteful, disrespectful or flat-out immoral, is a unique pillar of the democracy that our constitution promises U.S. citizens. The depth and variety of this response — the impacts stretched from opinion columnists to news anchors to professors to mere passport-havers — form the makings of a country where everyone is under threat of being muzzled. That’s not a country that truly cares to protect free speech, no matter how many times the head executive makes claims to the contrary. 

Authoritarianism and censorship are cancers; they’re much harder to fight once they’ve spread. Those with the liberty to respond have a frighteningly limited amount of time to react with swift, appropriate action. But here’s the silver lining: resistance works. When ABC indefinitely suspended the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show under threat from the FCC for “insensitive” comments about Kirk’s death, millions responded in protesting boycotts. In less than 30 hours, parent company Disney had lost almost $4 billion in stock — and by Monday afternoon, the show was reinstated. Resistance proves that we will not take a violation of our constitutional rights quietly.

In a statement on Kimmel’s suspension, the Writers Guilds of the American East and West declared that the right not just to disagree, but to disturb, lies at the core of the First Amendment. To employers succumbing to government censorship, the Guilds highlighted just that: “Our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world.” 

It’s woefully naive to think that this crackdown won’t impact us all. If we can’t organize together to protect our supposed shared value of free expression, we’re complicit in a nation-wide blackout of our people-powered country. A world without fervent voices is not tranquil — it’s destitute. Our words are the electricity of democracy, avenues to obstruct dictatorship.

The government must make no attempt to abridge this freedom.

Editor’s Note: Proud to see the young students at UNC’s daily newspaper speaking out in defense of Freedom of Speech. Makes me feel the future might work ok ;)…

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Column: When one of us is silenced, all of us are –

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University launches new AI studio in Davis library – The Daily Tar Heel

University

University launches new AI studio in Davis library

By Mariah Temple, Published Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025

On Aug. 18, University Libraries launched its new Library AI Studio, where students can gather to learn about rapidly growing information technology and experiment with its tools. The physical space, located on the second floor of Davis Library, provides a hands-on experience with artificial intelligence.

María Estorino, vice provost of University Libraries and the University librarian, said that generative AI is just another aspect of what the library has always sought to provide for students — access to knowledge along with the tools used to create and generate it. 

Equipped with experts available from 12 to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, the studio is an information center designed for the community members of all backgrounds to advance their AI literacy through various workshops, panels and one-on-one consultations. 

“We serve all of campus. We’re really a neutral place for student learning and building literacies of all kinds,” Michelle Rodell, associate University librarian for health sciences and director of the Health Sciences Library, said. 

Rodell said University Libraries recognizes that students will graduate into a world where AI already exists within their careers — the studio simply serves to prepare students for that reality. 

Riley Harper, technical chair of AI@UNC, said he thinks the Library AI Studio is a good way for students to get involved with AI. AI@UNC is a student organization where members can assist in faculty-led research projects and gain hands-on experience through workshops.

“There’s a lot of buzzwords that are often thrown around [AI], and demystifying some of that so that it’s not misused can be a great use of funding,” he said.

Harper added that he would like to see some of the AI Acceleration Grants go towards projects run by student leadership, but overall thinks the Library AI Studio is a great initiative.

The Library AI Studio held its first in-person event on Aug. 20, a creative workshop titled “Prompt and Pour: Mocktails with an AI Twist.” Students could stop by the second floor of Davis to sample mocktails made from AI-generated recipes, enter raffles for library prizes and connect with their peers through AI bingo and online quizzes aimed to fuel conversations surrounding AI and the new studio itself.  

Continue/Read Original Article Here: University launches new AI studio in Davis library –

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Conservative-leaning group requests syllabi from 74 UNC courses, uses keyword ‘DEI’ – The Daily Tar Heel

Editor’s Note: This is how the right-wing Heritage Foundation, and its offshoots, are trying to help Trump force colleges and universities to stop any “DEI” efforts or teaching, trying to eliminate any efforts to lift people up, give them a chance to succeed, and reach down to the disadvantaged in our society. Stop Heritage Foundation, and this Oversight Project. They are nobody, and the University of North Carolina, for its honor and traditions, should not respond to this external right-wing request from a non-governmental group. – DrWeb 

University

Conservative-leaning group requests syllabi from 74 UNC courses, uses keyword ‘DEI’

By Dayna Wilkerson, Published Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025

On July 2, The Oversight Project submitted a public records request to UNC calling for the release of class resources and syllabi for 74 university courses. With the request, the group seeks to uncover any University materials that defy President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

One of the executive orders cited in the request was the Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity act, which eliminated affirmative action in admissions and increased scrutiny of DEI-related offices and statements in higher education institutions. The Oversight Project’s request seeks materials containing specific keywords such as “DEI,” “LGBTQ+” and “anti-racism.”

The request spans 29 UNC departments, including women’s and gender studies, anthropology and business.

“We want to see how the public policy changes that have been rolled out — the legal changes by the Trump administration — if and how they’re being implemented at the university level,” Mike Howell, the project’s president, said. Howell submitted the request on behalf of the group.

The Oversight Project is a subsidiary of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization that monitors governmental institutions, and more recently, higher education institutions.

Senior Director of UNC Media Relations Kevin Best wrote in an email to The Daily Tar Heel that the University has not responded to the request, and is still trying to figure out which materials, if any, will be released. 

“Course materials, including but not limited to exams, lectures, assignments and syllabi, are the intellectual property of the preparer and are owned by the preparer as non-traditional work,” Best wrote.

UNC’s copyright policy states that unless an exemption applies, “it is unlawful for University faculty, staff or students to reproduce, distribute, display publicly, perform, digitally transmit, or prepare derivative works based upon a copyrighted work, without the permission of the copyright owner.”

Though, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 132-1 says that records made in relation to the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions, are subject to release as public records. As a public institution in North Carolina, UNC is subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law.

Continue/Read Original Article: https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2025/08/university-oversight-project-records-request

#2025 #America #Books #Curriculum #DEI #DonaldTrump #Health #History #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #NorthCarolina #OversightProject #Politics #Reading #Republicans #Resistance #RightWing #Science #TheDailyTarHeel #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates #UniversityOfNorthCarolina

Front of the UNC Chapel Hill student newspaper after the school shooting lockdown. Grim.

#UNC #ChapelHill #SchoolShooter #Lockdown #StudentNewspaper #TheDailyTarHeel

NBD but #POTUS pinned a tweet about #TheDailyTarheel's front page today.

#UNC

The Daily Tar Heel's front page today features text messages received and sent by students at the University of North Carolina during yesterday's shooting. dailytarheel.com

#TheDailyTarHeel #NorthCarolina #UNC #UNCShooting #ChapelHill