Date/Time
Date(s) - 10/07/2026
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Freedom Forum Conference Center, Carroll Hall 305
This panel is hosted by the student organization TransparUNCy.
This event will examine the state of free expression, protest, surveillance and institutional accountability at UNC in the wake of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment and the campus controversies that followed. Looking back on a moment that many view as a turning point in the university’s history, panelists will discuss the tensions between political dissent and administrative authority, the university’s response to student activism, the role of policing and disciplinary measures in higher education and broader questions about freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and academic freedom on campus.
This First Amendment Day, join us to ask these questions together with the community members who experienced the encampment three years ago and are living in its legacy today. What was it about the encampment that made it such an exception to UNC’s stated commitments to free expression? Why was speech about Palestine treated as such a threat? How has the university’s approach to protest and dissent changed since the Encampment? And, more broadly, who gets to determine what can be said, protested, displayed or challenged at the university?
Moderator:
Bebe Castañeda is an undergraduate in the Global Studies department and an organizer with TransparUNCy. She was a freshman when she participated in the UNC encampment.
Panel Participants:
Sophia Brown is an administrative assistant at UNC Chapel Hill and a graduate of the Curriculum in Global Studies. As a student, she was a member of UNC SJP and a participant in the encampments.
Tagged: 1ad2026
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