‘Read the room,’ UNC: Fundraiser for Old Well water bottles falls flat with some alumni
Getting a fund-raising request from your college alma mater is a fairly regular occurrence, but the one that some UNC-Chapel Hill received this week was decidedly different.
UNC asked for donations to help give incoming students mini water bottles as a tribute to Carolina’s long tradition of taking a drink from the Old Well on campus before classes start. Legend says this is supposed to bring a semester of good luck and a 4.0 GPA for students who do it. Of course, large groups of students lining up to drink from the same water fountain isn’t feasible amid the coronavirus pandemic.
And UNC’s solicitation for its First Sip campaign left a bad taste for some who received it.
“I just kind of rolled my eyes,” UNC alumna Aitza Burgess said. “I wasn’t surprised, I just thought it was ridiculous.”
Burgess said she’s been getting almost weekly emails from UNC recently asking for donations, particularly related to helping students and faculty through the pandemic. But this is the first time the request has been for something “very frivolous,” she said.
UNC is trying to raise $60,000 through the campaign to give out Carolina branded mini plastic water bottles to all undergraduate students so that they symbolically participate in the tradition. The labels note that the bottle has “0 calories” but a “4.0 GPA.”
“If you’re thinking about asking alumni and donors to give, I would much rather give money that would help a student stay afloat,” Burgess said. “Yes, the tradition is nice, but we’re in a recession. … We can do without the tradition. People can’t do without food or money if they don’t have work-study or a part-time job anymore.”
Burgess tweeted a screenshot of the email from UNC and drew immediate attention from others on social media.
“Alumna here ... y’all have nothing better to do than this? In this economy & in a pandemic, we’re raising money for water bottles, for a tradition that the majority of folks don’t participate in after their first-year,” Taylor Price tweeted, tagging the university and UNC Admissions.
“I really can’t handle how tone deaf @UNC is perpetually. At this point it’s like I’m reading The Onion,” Alecia Smith tweeted.
“i literally cannot imagine a bigger waste of time and money, not to mention the wastefulness of using plastic,” UNC student Ameila Jerden tweeted.
More than $2,400 had been raised as of Wednesday afternoon. And some responded to the call for help. Daniel Ashley donated $50 and wrote “Go Heels! And good luck to all students this Fall! It’s different, but it can still be great!”
Others thought the money could be better spent.
“UNC community: please give us remote learning, CARES act funding, accountability for Greek life, basic protection for essential workers. UNC administration: here’s a bottle of fake Old Well water!” Paige Masten tweeted.
“Read the room,” Burgess said. “I know we want to keep spirits high, we want to find some sense of joy, but that isn’t the way to do it.”
And no, the bottled water doesn’t even come from the Old Well anyway.
A note on the label says, “Water not actually from the Old Well. While Carolina’s campus has many wonderful things — lovely quads, amazing libraries, iconic sports venues — it does not have a bottling plant.”
