Michael Jay: Liu also missed
As the chair of an academic unit at UNC, this is the time of year I conduct annual performance evaluations of faculty in my unit. I am painfully reminded again this year that one member of my division, Dr. Feng Liu, will not be evaluated because in July 2014 he was brutally murdered – bashed in the head with a stone and left on the street for dead – just blocks from the UNC campus.
Why, unlike on the anniversary of other UNC murder victims, were there no front-page stories in The N&O or an email blast from the UNC chancellor? Why no call from President Obama or mention of this horrific crime in his press briefs?
Liu was a kind soul who served his profession and community; he wasn’t even involved in a dispute with his neighbors. Anyone who attended the memorial service for Liu after his murder could see the visible pain it had on his colleagues, friends, family and community. A pall of sadness and fear – yes, fear – continues to hang over them today.
Does anybody care about their voice or is Liu just not enough of a sympathetic victim?
Michael Jay
Chapel Hill
This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Michael Jay: Liu also missed."