Much of this lack of respect may come from the recent tendency of Carolina to look outward for its leaders. While for most of its history, the leaders of Carolina were nearly always North Carolinians and Carolina graduates, this pattern has recently shifted—neither Carolina’s current chancellor nor its provost had spent any substantial time in Chapel Hill before their selection. Such a change means that Carolina’s administrators never have gotten the chance to see the uniqueness of the town and may only see the town as a hindrance to their expansion plans.

For the past year this lack of respect has been made clear in various ways. Carolina has been confrontational with town leaders. Residents were given little input as to the shape of the final master plan. And Carolina has reversed itself on a number of promises, including one made not to develop certain portions of land. The ultimate manifestation of this lack of respect came in late May, when a provision was placed in the state’s budget to remove Chapel Hill’s right to regulate any of the university’s development within the town. The provision was included as a result of secret discussions between top Carolina administrators and the majority leader of the North Carolina Senate, who is also a prominent member of Carolina’s alumni association. Through the commendable work of the state legislators representing Chapel Hill, the provision was later removed—but it was a slap in the face to the town and its residents to suggest that they could not have any input in how our town is developed.

I am a great lover of both Chapel Hill and Carolina—as those who have ever been around me during a Carolina basketball game know. Such a lack of respect and marked decline in town-gown relations is particularly upsetting because of the degree to which the greatness of each depends on that of the other. Carolina is a great place to go to school in large part because Chapel Hill is a great place to live, and vice versa. More than a handful of today’s residents of Chapel Hill first came to the town as students and so fell in love with the town and Carolina that they never left or they came back in later life. People don’t call Chapel Hill the southern part of Heaven without reason.

In seeking to move its facilities into the next century, Carolina needs to remember its ties to its city. Carolina cannot forget what has made it special in the past centuries—something for which no number of buildings will ever substitute.

Daniel P. Mosteller ’03, a Crimson editor, is a history concentrator in Mather House. He went home to Chapel Hill, N.C., before returning to Cambridge to write for The Crimson’s summer editions.