Supporters of the Black Student Movement on UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus gathered in front of the Student and Academic Services Building (SASB) to bring awareness to the University’s decision to dissolve the organization’s co-ownership of the Upendo Lounge.
Adam Sherif, the president of BSM, spoke to a crowd of around 30 campus members stating the University decided to terminate their co-ownership to be in agreement with federal anti-DEI guidelines which suggest the Lounge “discouraged students of other races from accessing the space.”
“The University has not brought forth any evidence suggesting that Upendo Lounge facially discouraged non-Black students and organizations from accessing the space, nor that we discriminated against non-Black students and organizations use of the space,” Sherif said.
BSM was first notified in late August by Vice Provost of Student Affairs Amy Johnson and Vice Provost Leah Cox that the organization’s direct access to the Lounge would change marketed through the lens of equity for all students.
Jayden Pupoh, BSM’s political action co-chair, said after attempting to book the space for an event they were denied.
Pupoh said she was originally told only tenants of SASB, specifically faculty and staff who work in the building, could reserve the space. However, after speaking to a source in the Scholarships and Programming Office, which is located in SASB, they informed Pupoh that no student organizations or students can reserve the space.
Black Ink reached out to both the Vice Provost of Student Affairs and Vice Provost Cox but has not received a comment.
Alexis Lee, a senior at UNC, said she’s not surprised but discouraged given the news. Lee along with other students who attended the meeting said that there’s no other space on campus that feels as safe as the Upendo Lounge.
“They will use the Trump administration as their fall guy to say, ‘well, this is what the federal government wants, so we have to do what they want because we receive funds from them,’ and I just don’t think that’s true.” Lee said.
The Upendo Lounge, which first opened in 1973 in Chase Dining Hall, was the first official space on UNC’s campus dedicated solely to the Black student population at the University.
According to the Open Orange platform, the Lounge was consistently “under threat” from University administrators and other student groups as it was displaced many times by the construction and relocation of the dining hall.
Since 2003, the Lounge has been located in SASB North where it continued to function as a space for meetings, cultural events, and student gatherings hosted by BSM and other Black student organizations.
BSM political action co-chair, Samuel Scarborough, took to the audience to share the organization’s list of demands to the University. Those demands included a restoration of BSM’s co-ownership rights to the Lounge, the establishment of a plaque sharing its significance, the maintenance of the name ‘Upendo,’ keeping copies of all artwork and archives currently displayed within the space, and for the University to return the original artwork and archives to BSM.
“We call on our Black Alumni, on our Black community members, we call on anyone of conscience to support us in this crucial moment,” Scarborough said, “not only for the Upendo Lounge, but for creating an environment on this campus that supports Black students and all students.”
