Task force seeks to unify campus

Part of N.C. State's character has come from the Free Expression Tunnel. Through history, it is clear that the tunnel has allowed for students to speak about international issues, such as the Vietnam War to less political topics regarding upcoming student events.

As students, we can bond over shared memories from the Ram Roast and remember how the tunnel can be used to bring peers together. Although often undefined, the Free Expression Tunnel's role within the Wolfpack community has remained strong within the community.

On Nov. 5, an attempt at disunity struck our community. The comments painted in our Free Expression Tunnel were horrific and distasteful. Yet the strength of the student body prevailed through diversity conversations and was further promoted through faculty participation.

Student Government took leadership to host a Unity Rally, I myself led a Speak-Out in hopes of encourage participation in positively challenging offensive speech. 

After the comments appeared in the tunnel, Chancellor James Oblinger promptly created the Campus Culture Task Force to look at N.C. State in hopes of addressing the many issues that surrounded the Free Expression Tunnel and overall campus climate. The message in Oblinger's Nov. 19 update resonated within me as he explained that the "...statement on this issue is clear: We stand together to denounce these acts. We are a stronger, more unified campus in the face of hate and prejudice. As we turn our discussions to the future, let's focus on the ways to make our campus even stronger."

After diligent work with the task force, I am pleased with the suggestions that will be presented. It is my hope that the University can foster a civil campus climate. I further aspire for a campus in which we promote respectful challenges to ideologies among one another. A feeling of pride begins to surface as I see that as a task force we are able to reinforce that N.C. State values and is committed to promoting diversity. 

Even with such positive recommendations, as a task force we are unable to be effective without the support of the students. For if we want racism, homophobia, sexism and the many other societal problems to decrease and eventually become nonexistent, we must encourage further discussions and not let "controversial" topics become dormant.

There is no individual solution that can fix all of the issues we have among our culture and it is only by continual growth and talks with our peers we can remain united.