April 2026 Archives

Faculty, students, and media pressure UNC to release Civic Life investigation report

April 25, 2026 Editor and Alice Scott

UNC is refusing to release the findings of an investigation into the School of Civic Life and Leadership. The investigation followed allegations of misconduct in the school’s hiring practices.

Carolina Connection – Apr. 25, 2026

April 25, 2026 Editor

UNC is facing growing pressure to release its investigation of the internal turmoil within the School of Civic Life and Leadership. Amid backlash against DEI, professors in UNC’s Women and Gender Studies department continue to promote open dialogue. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials are defending library books with LGBTQ+ content that state lawmakers deem inappropriate. We hear how poetry can help us pay attention to the world around us. Who’s inside UNC’s Rameses costume? Graduating seniors are posing for their last moments as U-N-C students.

State Republican leaders attack LGBTQ+ themed library books in Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools

April 24, 2026 Allison Helms and Javon Huynh

Republican lawmakers say some elementary school library books in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools include inappropriate LGBTQ themes, while school officials say they follow state law.

A black sign outside of a building and bushes that reads "SMITH BUILDING"

Under fire from critics, UNC’s Women and Gender Studies department pushes for open dialogue

April 24, 2026 Rachel Moody

Amid anti-DEI sentiment and UNC’s new public syllabus requirement, faculty in the Women and Gender Studies Department say they’re working to maintain their ethics, integrity … and jobs.

For the anonymous students inside the costume, being Rameses is a serious responsibility

April 24, 2026 Rachel Moody

Students pass down the costume – and the tradition – from year to year, with their identities remaining secret until they’re ready to graduate.

As graduation approaches, seniors engage in some final UNC traditions

April 24, 2026 Zoe Behrendt

As UNC seniors prepare to graduate, traditions like grad photos, Bell Tower climbs, and Franklin Street celebrations take on new meaning.

For UNC professor Carlina Duan, poetry lives on beyond the page

April 24, 2026 Anthony Guerra-Flores

Duan, who is now working on her third collection of poems, sees poetry as a genre that inspires a people to slow down and listen.

Carolina Connection – Apr. 18, 2026

April 18, 2026 Editor

A North Carolina death row inmate works with a UNC music professor to produce an album. Media organizations sue to force UNC to release the findings of its seven-month investigation into the School of Civic Life and Leadership. The curator of Coker Arboretum is trying to help plants through the drought and has some advice for your garden, too. A group of people goes to RDU not to catch flights, but to watch them. North Carolina boys may soon be able to play a new official high school sport – volleyball.

Death row inmate collaborates with UNC professor on rap album

April 18, 2026 Henry Nicholls

Alim Braxton, known on music platforms as “Rrome Alone,” has been incarcerated for over thirty years at Central Prison. With the help of UNC music professor Mark Katz and New-York based producer Nick Neutronz, he is able to release music from death row.

This year’s severe drought is a challenge for Coker Arboretum’s plants – and their caretakers

April 17, 2026 Anthony Guerra-Flores

The arboretum’s caretakers hope judicious watering and the use of native plant species will minimize the effects of the dry weather.