Op-Eds

Over the past several weeks, UNC System workers have penned and published their concerns regarding their campus' reopening plans:

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• "Five reasons why we all should reject in-person instruction", by Julio Gutierrez in The Daily Tar Heel

• "Faculty appeals to UNC system leaders – don’t risk lives to reopen campuses" by Belle Boggs, NCSU Professor in The News & Observer

• "College Leaders Must Explain Why—Not Just How—to Return to Campus" by Kevin McClure, UNCW Professor in EdSurge

• "Faculty and Students Shouldn’t Have to Risk their Health for a University’s Bottom Line" by Paul Isom, NCSU Lecturer in The News & Observer

• "UNC has poor record of protecting Black and minority workers" by David Brannigan, UNC-CH Groundskeeper in The Daily Tar Heel

• "Bringing College Students Back to Classrooms During COVID-19 is a Mistake" by Katie Mack, NCSU Professor on Medium

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Are we missing an op-ed you or someone else wrote? Submit it and other resources you'd like to share on this website: link.

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Is there a narrative you don't see being shared through the op-ed or letter to the editor medium? We encourage you to write and submit it yourself! Below are some resources on how to write an effective op-ed:

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• "How to write an op-ed or column" from the Harvard Kennedy School

• "Writing an effective op-ed" from the Duke Communicator Toolkit

• "Op-ed Writing: Tips and Tricks" from the Op-Ed Project

• Twitter thread from Chris Marsicano on the power of op-eds in higher ed policy

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Submission links and guidelines for potential local outlets:

• The News and Observer (Raleigh)

• The Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill)

• The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte)

• The Durham Herald-Sun (Durham)

• The Citizen-Times, Asheville (Asheville)

• Watauga Democrat (Boone)

• The Daily Reflector (Greenville)

• News & Record (Greensboro) 

• The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City)

• The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville)

• Star News Online (Wilmington)

• Journal Now (Winston-Salem)

• The Sylva Herald and Ruralite (Sylva, Cullowhee) 

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Our goal is to flood local papers across North Carolina with op-eds by UNC workers. However, there is also value in getting our voices published by regional or national outlets with a broader reach. Note that these outlets receive many more submissions than they can ever publish and are more likely to require that the column be exclusive to their publication. However, that shouldn't discourage you from attempting to submit your piece to them – but do be sure to follow their guidelines carefully:

• Inside Higher Ed

• The Chronicle of Higher Education

• EdSurge

• The Washington Post

• Buzzfeed News READER

• USA Today

• The Atlantic

• The New York Times

• The Wall Street Journal

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