# @chapelboronews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DP1SSLZDccU
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/35762811-chapelboronews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/0c59186517.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-10-15T14:05:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Chapelboro.com (@chapelboronews) — https://gondola.cc/chapelboronews

## Caption

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 years of BSM advocating for a safe space on campus for Black students. It later moved to SASB, typically providing today’s students with a cultural hub to study, socialize, and gather in a predominately Black atmosphere, according to a release from the campus group. 

But on September 5, Sherif said UNC informed the organization it no longer held co-ownership status over Upendo, with plans to turn it into a permanent conference room. The decision followed the UNC Board of Governors ban of DEI across NC public universities, in response to a national anti-DEI memo.

Although the BSM leaders Friday argued the organization “liberally” helps facilitate the use of the space by other groups, often those that are not Black-serving, the federal guidelines state how spaces like the lounge discourage students of other races from accessing it. Sherif said the guidelines also suggest how spaces like the lounge may foster a hostile environment. 

Full story on Chapelboro.com.
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#unc #uncbsm #upendo #upendolounge #uncchapelhill

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## Tags

uncchapelhill, uncbsm, upendolounge, upendo, unc

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