My New Favorite Holiday: First Amendment Day at UNC-CH
By Faye Fang
EDITOR’S NOTE: The author sits on the PR committee for UNC-Chapel Hill’s First Amendment Day.
My bus buddy in fifth grade wasn’t allowed to read Harry Potter. I personally thought it was the kind of strange, especially since my mother was happy for me to read ANYTHING.
But it was understandable, because her parents didn’t allow it. What is unfathomable to me is a childhood without Scout Finch, Huckleberry Finn and yes, Harriet the Spy, just because your school district, not your parents, thought they were unsuitable for children to read about. As an avid reader now, I am pretty grateful that we have a fairly well-defined and agreed upon first amendment that can guarantee some of our basic rights, especially when it comes to speech and press.
Lucky for me, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is celebrating my favorite amendment all day September 30, making First Amendment Day my new favorite holiday (after my birthday, of course). The campus-wide event organized by the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy, will engage undergraduates and graduate school students, to discuss the First Amendment’s role in the their lives as UNC-CH students. Students and campus leaders, including Chancellor Holden Thorp, will read excerpts from banned books, sing banned music and discuss the importance of the First Amendment, especially at a public university.
The event is a PR practitioner’s dream come true, because of its relevancy to all areas, organizations and studies on campus. This year, Heelprint Communications, a student-run strategic communications firm, had the honor to work with the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy to increase student recruitment, turn-out and participation through an extensive social media campaign. In addition to Facebook, and Twitter, more traditional tactics such as press releases, media pitches and fliers will also promote the First Amendment Day as a celebration of the university as a marketplace of ideas.
The event is not limited to UNC-CH students and staff. Those of the greater Raleigh-Durham area are welcome to join in for the events and the discussions! So, if you are a fan of freedom of speech, religion, press and assembly, why not?
Useful Links:
For complete schedule and updates of event.









