CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Chancellor Randy Woodson.
Students, faculty and administration gathered at the Free Expression Tunnel Tuesday evening to stand together against different forms of discrimination and inequality. The event is in its first year and was organized by on-campus organizations including Student Government, the GLBT center and CSLEPS .
According to Student Body President Chandler Thompson, the racial slur that was accidentally published in a photo in The Brick, a magazine distributed to incoming freshmen at orientation, was the driving force for the event.
“What’s great is all the students came together to organize the event in response,” Thompson said. “We’ve been overwhelmed with volunteers.”
Thompson said Respect the Pack will become an annual part of Wolfpack Welcome Week.
The event also featured speakers, including Chancellor Randy Woodson and Rupert Nacoste , professor of psychology.
“What I’m most proud of is the fact that this event was organized, sponsored and led by students,” Woodson said to the crowd. “The tunnel is a reflection of us, it belongs to the students, who have taken control and made sure we send out messages of mutual respect.”
Nacoste , founder of “Wake Up, It’s Serious,” an organization dedicated to combating intolerance, spoke on the distinction between free speech and freedom of expression, as well as the responsibility of a community that has that freedom.
“Every student on campus is a citizen on campus, and should be treated as such,” Nacoste said. “Free expression is not the same as your constitutional right to free speech. It’s not – that’s what people are confused about.
“In America no one has the right to total free expression. That’s why we have legal concepts like slander and libel,” Nacoste said during his speech. “Free expression does not require you to identify yourself, and that’s why it’s almost always done unseen, in the shadows. When people make anti-group statements, people act as if there’s nothing to be done. Not so. No one has to or should embrace the hate.”
Students and organizers, like GLBT Center Director Justin Hollingshead , said they were glad to see action being taken.
“Students have done an awesome job,” Hollingshead said. “As a representative of an oppressed minority group, it’s important that the tunnel needs to be about respect. Hopefully a new respectful climate will come out of this.”
Mija Nichols, a junior in environmental technology, and Michelle Murphy, junior in math education, both said they were glad to see people care and that they were proud to be part of the Wolfpack .
Some students weren’t as enthusiastic, however.
Caleb Melvin, a sophomore in environmental science, said he expected more.
“It wasn’t as big as I thought,” Melvin said. “I see all the slurs and images [in the tunnel], and I think it should be monitored. There should be a limit on expression.”
Woodson, CSLEPS Director Mike Giancola , and other campus leaders and students put on paint-covered gloves and left colored hand prints along the tunnel walls, which were also painted over completely white. The idea for covering the tunnel in hand prints was that of Susannah Brinkley, a former Student Media employee.
Additionally, propped up on tripods that lined the flat spot near the tunnel were signs listing various minority groups and corresponding stereotypes, as well as action to take against discrimination.
In addition to live music, attendees could also get airbrushed tattoos to show their support and receive discounts from certain businesses on Hillsborough Street, such as Planet Smoothie, until Aug. 19.
