Elizabeth Youssef
Fall Student Reflections & Gratitude
Fall Student Reflections & Gratitude

Robert P. George and Cornel West in Conversation

On Sept. 10, in partnership with the UNC Program for Public Discourse, we hosted a discussion between Drs. George and West on fostering dialogue and friendships across the political aisle. The event was moderated by Thomas Chatterton Williams, with an introduction from Dr. Terry Rhodes, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and we’re thrilled to be able to share the recording now here!

Dr. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He is also frequently a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School.

Dr. West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and holds the title of Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He has also taught at Union Theological Seminary, Yale, Harvard, and the University of Paris. Thomas Chatterton Williams is the author of ‘Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race and Losing My Cool’ and a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, the London Review of Books, and many other places. He is a 2019 New America Fellow and the recipient of a Berlin Prize.

Study Center Community Serves Students in Quarantine & Isolation

After last week, numerous community members expressed concern for the students impacted by COVID-19. They generously offered to fund meals and/or care packages for those in quarantine and isolation. 🤍

Thank you to everyone making it possible for us to demonstrate the love of Christ together in this way to students at UNC. We are eager to serve and humbled by your support. 🤍

Interested in funding a meal for a student in quarantine or isolation? Learn more here.

Are you a student in quarantine or isolation in Chapel Hill? Submit a meal request here! Let our staff drop off food for you or send you a meal.🍴

Fall Welcome Week Schedule + Carolina Way Casual

August 3-9: Welcome Week on the Study Center lawn
11am - 3pm, daily

Please let us know when you plan to stop by!

On the day of your move-in, we invite you and your family to come visit us under the 40’ x 60’ tent on the two-acre Study Center front lawn! We’ll have spaced-out picnic tables set up, refreshments, and several staff members and student leaders present to greet you between 11am and 3pm.

When not in the midst of a COVID-pandemic, the Study Center is a revolving door of students constantly buzzing with life, conversations, and various activities. We are a "home away from home" for you while you're at UNC, a community hub that encourages you to grow and connect with God and one another. We’re a short five-minute walk from the Pit. Over 100 students stop by throughout the average day for all kinds of reasons: the best coffee (or tea) in town, comfortable places to study, a place to meet with friends on the front porch rocking chairs, or to play with the house dog, Barrie, on the lawn. 

While this fall will be scaled-down as we follow UNC’s COVID-guidelines, the Study Center ethos will be the same. We’ll continue to offer a wide-range of optional Christian educational programs and public events designed to help you grow as a spiritually integrated, holistic person and student during your four years at UNC.

August 11: Regular hospitality hours begin at the Study Center
9am - 5pm, daily

Beginning on FDOC (the first day of class), our tent and lawn will be open daily (Monday – Friday) from 9am - 5pm.  Come visit us anytime for any reason! Refreshments will be available.  

Please also enjoy this short video from Amber Younger (Director of Hospitality & Operations) on what daily hospitality will look like this semester.

August 15: Carolina Way Camp Casual (CWC)
SIGN-UP HERE in < 30 seconds

Carolina Way Camp has been postponed due to COVID concerns and UNC policies.  Fortunately, Carolina Way Camp’s more chill cousin, Carolina Way *Casual* is a go!  We hope you all will join us on Saturday, August 15th for a full-day of speed-friending, orientation activities, hearing from campus leaders and campus ministers, connecting with upperclassmen, etc.  Meals are provided and there is no cost to register.

In order to confirm your spot, you need to tell us you’re joining on the sign-up form listed above. Please RSVP asap so that we can pair you with your cabin!

Anytime: Connect with our staff, or your CWC cabins and counselors

As you register for CWC, your Carolina Way Casual counselors will be eager to meet you! After registering, you’ll be placed in a cabin and your counselors will reach out to connect with you and to introduce you to your Class of 2024 cabinmates. 

Bonus: Learn about UNC campus ministries and local churches on this newly launched webpage.

Incoming Student Resources webpage is now LIVE!

We are excited to announce that the Study Center's brand new Incoming Student Resources webpage is now live! Our team has worked with several upperclassmen student leaders this summer to design this extensive set of resources specifically with incoming students and their parents in mind.  

You'll find everything here ranging from a roommate search hub, to student pro-tips on classes, majors, professors, and the Greek system, to a student-led podcast called 'Talk of the Hill.' Parents, you'll find a page with specific resources and wisdom for you as well.

We realize that COVID-19 poses some unique challenges in making the transition to college and we are here to assist you in whatever way we can. We hope that this collection of resources, as well as Carolina Way Camp (CWC), go a long way toward setting you on a trajectory for a wonderful four years. This year’s group of counselors is so excited to get to know you, and you can learn more about each of them on the camp Counselors page here. 

If you're an incoming student and you haven't registered for CWC yet, we encourage you to do so soon and reserve your spot here as space is limited! Already registered but still need to pay the $175 fee? Please complete this payment form. We do have limited scholarship funds available. If you have financial need, please fill out a scholarship application.

Carolina Way Camp COVID-19 Update:

Registration for Carolina Way Camp 2020 is open! As you all know, UNC will now begin classes on Monday, August 10th. In light of this, Carolina Way Camp will now take place from Thursday, August 6th - Saturday, August 8th

This year’s Carolina Way Camp is designed with three priorities in mind:

  1. To provide an incredible camp experience for incoming first-year students, giving them opportunities to connect with one another and with the extended Christian community at UNC.

  2. To mitigate COVID-19 related risks.

  3. To be thoughtful neighbors to the university faculty, administrators and other students.

We have made several significant adjustments to camp in acting on these three priorities:

  • Location: CWC will now be held on-and-around campus, thus mitigating COVID-19 risks associated with remote travel.

  • Transportation: CWC will now involve a minimal amount of local small-vehicle transport, thus mitigating COVID-19 risks associated with group bus travel.

  • Format: CWC will be held in day-camp format this year. Students will return to their own dorm rooms to sleep each evening, thus mitigating COVID-19 risks associated with group bunking.

  • Risk Mitigation: Our staff is closely monitoring CDC guidelines as well as State of North Carolina and UNC-Chapel Hill COVID-19 policies in ensuring that CWC is designed to be a safe, minimal-risk environment. UNC continues to regularly update the ‘Community Standards’ which will govern campus life this fall and which will be most determinative for CWC policies. For the latest, please visit this update page. We will continue to keep registered campers and parents updated this summer as we have more specific details on camp COVID-19 policies.

Since we’ve decided to change the format to a day camp, we’re excited to offer Carolina Way Camp for the reduced rate of $175. If you would like to attend, we strongly encourage you to register now to claim your spot as space is limited (last year spots filled up and we had to form a waiting list). 

If you are in need of financial assistance in order to attend camp, please fill out this scholarship application.  We have limited financial aid available and will do our best to enable you to attend camp.

If you are one of the small number of students who already paid your registration fee in March, you will receive a refund for the amount by which the price of camp has been reduced.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to plan for camp while monitoring this fluid situation. Know that we are praying for you and your family during this difficult time. We’re excited to welcome you to UNC, to connect you to the extended Christian community, and we can’t wait to be with you in person soon!

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery: Lament, Reflection, and Practical Resources

In the midst of a difficult few months, this has been a particularly grievous past few weeks.

We lament the appalling and unjust murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. Each of these individuals was an image-bearer of God-created, known, and loved by Him and therefore of supreme dignity and worth. In each case, the sacrilege committed against black life is an affront to God almighty and a denial of His creational intentions. When image-bearers are not respected as such and when human beings are not afforded the dignity they inherently have as God’s beloved creatures, God Himself is grieved and righteously indignant (e.g. Amos 2:6-7; Amos 5:10-15). As New Testament Scholar Esau McCaulley wrote in a recent NYT op-ed on Ahmaud Arbery, “The tragedy is not simply what his death reveals about how black life is valued here. The tragedy is not only the freshly invigorated fear that black men and women will feel....The tragedy is that his black life ended. For those who believe that all life is sacred, there is no bigger catastrophe.”

The evil done to Ahmaud, Breonna, and George evoke memories of the horrendous injustices inflicted on so many other black Americans, both known and unknown, throughout history and up to this present moment. Black Americans continue to bear this collective trauma. The persistence of racism and the devaluation of black life at both an interpersonal and systemic/institutional level in our country call for deep lament, reflection, repentance, and a renewed commitment among Christians, particularly non-black Christians, to the holistic gospel and to the Kingdom-citizenship to which Christ calls us. While we will never experience the Kingdom of God in its fullness on this side of Christ’s return, we are called to embody the first fruits of it (Luke 9:2), to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39), and to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).

Many worthwhile pieces are being written in response to these recent events. We realize not all are in a place to delve into them. Here are just a few that we’ve found helpful the past few weeks for reflection, lament, and practicable action:

  1. Christianity Today: George Floyd Left a Gospel Legacy in Houston

  2. Dr. Esau McCaulley’s Pentecost Sermon, 5/31/20: ‘The Flames of Pentecost, Minneapolis Burning, and the Hope of the Kingdom’ written manuscript and audio version

  3. The AND Campaign's Statement on Racialized Violence in America + 6 practical steps that can be taken

We also are reposting the video below from the 2019 UNC Veritas Forum with Dr. McCaulley and Lecrae: Racial Justice: Is Christianity a Help or a Hindrance? As now is a more sober and fitting time than ever, we encourage you to re-watch this video.

To close with a few lines from the AND Campaign's statement: "pray, mourn, and bear witness to the justice and peace that are constitutive of Christ's reign. With the help of the Spirit, the Church can again be at the vanguard of a truly transformative movement for the soul of America."

Yours in Christ,

NCSC Staff