Campus Y executive members offer space for discourse and support

August 20, 2020 • • No Comments

After UNC announced that all fall 2020 classes are now remote and students should make plans to move home, community members and Campus Y directors are offering resources to students who are stressed and in need of support.

The University announced Monday that all undergraduate classes will switch to remote delivery. At first, the University said residents can request to cancel their fall 2020 housing contracts without penalty. Then, in a Carolina Housing email sent Tuesday evening, the University said students should cancel their housing contracts by Aug. 25 and make plans to move back to their permanent homes for the fall semester.

Shivam Bhargava, a junior neuroscience major, noticed a lot of posts from students in the UNC Class of 2024 Facebook group saying they are anxious and worried.

Bhargava, a director of development at the Campus Y, said he will be hosting a Zoom call on Thursday at 8 p.m. for first-year and transfer students who need a place to de-stress and talk to upperclassmen.

“We just wanted to create a safe space for any first-year to come and talk to some upperclassmen, and just de-stress,” Bhargava said. “I feel like a lot of them don’t really have a support system right now, so we want to at least create some kind of system and place where they can feel supported by other people on campus.”

Caroline Le, a junior health policy and management major, and Eleanor Murray, a junior global studies and American studies major, will co-host a Zoom call with Bhargava. Le is the director of membership at the Campus Y and Murray is a director of outreach.

Le said the Zoom call will give first-year and transfer students the ability to ask upperclassmen questions about navigating online classes and about college life in general.

In addition to support from other students, many students are seeking connections to the community or a parent-like figure.

Tiz Giordano, a queer co-organizer of the local Queer Transgender Indigenous People Of Color Survival Fund, along with UNC professor Sharon P. Holland, is organizing an effort to connect local parents and community members with UNC students whose families are either far away or not offering them support…