OUR OPINION: Great job everyone — Mr. and Ms. Wuf are just oh-so-very proud of the job you’ve done in keeping the Free Expression Tunnel free of Carolina blue.
S tudents woke up to an unpleasant sight Wednesday morning, as a coat of Carolina blue covered the walls of the Free Expression Tunnel.
Apparently, we’ve been so vigilant in keeping Carolina out of the Free Expression Tunnel, we’ve let them in just for the fun of it.
Letting UNC-Chapel Hill paint the tunnel Carolina blue is the definition of an epic failure.
We took back the tunnel and covered it with red paint during the Ram Roast Thursday night. But we can never allow Carolina blue to appear in such a prominent place on campus again.
This might just be a good time to establish a new tradition on campus and build a healthy rivalry with a school that’s all but written us off.
Adam Compton, senior class president, said students started to stand guard over the Free Expression Tunnel in 2005, which eventually led to the creation of the Ram Roast.
As far as the rivalry goes, Compton said the trick is to figure out how to foster it without advocating for outright retaliation.
But the consequences of allowing Carolina blue to pollute our campus are dire.
Compton said Mr. and Ms. Wuf would “absolutely” cry if the Free Expression was ever painted Carolina blue again. Such a tragedy would shake this University to its very core, and may bring all business on campus to a halt.
At this rate though, there is clearly no reason at all to believe N.C. State students could ever allow UNC students to defile the Free Expression Tunnel with that horrid shade of blue.
Obviously, we have the home turf advantage here and painting the ever-imaginative “UNC Sucks” is about all that anyone needs to do.
But there is no reason to remain on the defensive. We need to take this rivalry to the next level and come up with a creative way to tell UNC that we are ready to reignite this rivalry.
This is not to say students should start a European soccer riot in Chapel Hill — but they need to put the as much energy into bolstering the rivalry as they put into defending the Free Expression Tunnel.
Just remember this: if you let UNC paint the tunnel Carolina blue again, Mr. and Ms. Wuf will be heart-broken. We must protect this tunnel and need to take this rivalry to the next level.
