School Law Bulletin #2002/09

In the difficult economic times of the 2002 legislative session, the chief interests of the University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Community College System centered on the General Assembly’s appropriations decisions. How bad would the cuts be?

The session’s principal diversion was the controversy surrounding a summer reading program for incoming freshmen at Chapel Hill. Was it an unconstitutional violation of First Amendment rights to have all students read and discuss a book on Islam that many felt, in the wake of Septem- ber 11, 2001, presented a distorted and unduly rosy picture of Islam and the Qur’an? A proposal to limit spending on such summer reading programs failed.
Mainly, thoughts centered on the lack of funds.