North Carolina Tar Heels: Something has got to change…
The campus of the North Carolina Tar Heels was the latest school to face a very scary situation, serving as another reminder that things desperately need to change.
The beginning of a new school year is usually a time of excitement as North Carolina Tar Heels students prepare for their new courses while also anticipating some fun events that they can’t wait to enjoy.
Monday, August 28, 2023, was a day that should’ve kicked off a week of excitement and positive energy around the Chapel Hill campus.
However, that was all taken away as another senseless gun violence event occurred on the campus that we all truly love.
Just after 1:00 PM, a 9-1-1 call reported that gunshots were fired inside Caudill Laboratories. This forced the entire North Carolina community to go into lockdown mode for almost an hour and a half, as police made sure the suspect was apprehended and in custody before anyone was put in harm’s way.
Unfortunately, one faculty member was killed in this shooting, one that serves as yet another reminder that things desperately need to change within our country. School shootings have become way too common over recent memory, as a constant fear has been created not only for students and faculty but for families at home as well.
The North Carolina faculty member’s family had no idea that the individual would be going to work that morning and wouldn’t ever return home.
Parents shouldn’t have to worry about potentially never seeing their children again after dropping them off at school, a place that should be a safe and fun environment to learn.
Faculty and staff shouldn’t have to be anxious over the possibility of not returning home to their loved ones as they may face some unnecessary gun violence on any given day.
People around a school shooting (just like today) shouldn’t have to live with the trauma of what they had to unfortunately witness.
Let’s step off the campus of North Carolina for a second: K-12 schools in the area were forced to go into lockdown on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
Think about this: a kindergarten student who has never stepped foot in an elementary school was introduced to having to be put in lockdown due to something they surely don’t understand.
Is this the type of “norm” that we want to create for our youth?
The situation that occurred on the Chapel Hill campus on August 28th should serve as a reminder to us all that something needs to be done in order to control gun violence.
It’s time to ask the question:
“When (and how) are we going to put a stop to this?!”
Our team at Keeping It Heel has the absolute honor of having a platform to write about North Carolina Tar Heels Athletics. As this news broke, it hit us as well, as this university and the community involved with it hold a special place in our hearts.
Typically our job is to talk about UNC Athletics (and we’ll continue to do that), but this situation needs to be discussed first.
We truly are grieving with the family of the faculty member who lost their life due to this senseless act, as well as the entire University of North Carolina community.
This situation is one that truly hits home, as it’s another heartbreaking reminder that we need to find a way to prevent gun violence from impacting innocent schools and universities.
This heartbreaking and terrifying event has to serve as the start of making that change happen.
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