Following changes to UNC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy, The Black Student Movement at UNC (BSM) alleges it has been stripped of its access and input to a South Campus lounge. The Upendo Lounge has long been used as a safe space for Black students on campus, and BSM recently held a press conference to voice its demands for the university. On Friday, members of UNC’s BSM gathered outside the North Student Academic Services Building (SASB), the home of Upendo Lounge. There, the group’s president Adam Sherif explained how it was only August when BSM learned it could no longer reserve the space for its meetings. “We were notified by Vice Provost for Student Affairs Amy Johnson and Vice Provost Leah Cox that we would need to discuss the implications of Upendo following new federal guidelines released by Attorney General Pam Bondi. In reality, the call had already been made. We were there to be told, not heard.” The lounge originated in Chase Dining Hall in 1973 after ye...