The UNC BOG Democracy Coalition has begun a petition on Change.org to defend 34 centers and institutes that are under scrutiny by the UNC Board of Governors. The group, which calls itself a “diverse coalition of students, alumni, faculty, staff and organizations,” launched in October to demand changes and “foster greater democracy” at the BOG.

The petitioners (992 as of this writing) are passionate. Many of them describe personal experiences with one or more of the centers being scrutinized. It’s easy, of course, to be passionate about something paid for with (mostly) someone else’s money. In this case, the taxpayers’.

So my advice to the petition’s supporters is to turn to Go Fund Me (which helps individuals and non-profits raise money) and put their favorite centers to the test of free-market philanthropy. If they are serious about supporting centers and institutes on campus, they should raise funds instead of awareness.

Here’s a full list of centers and institutes listed on the petition:

  • Appalachian State University: Brantley Risk and Insurance Center; Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis; Research Institute for Environment, Energy and Economics
  • East Carolina University: Center for Applied Computational Studies; Center for Diversity and Inequality Research; Center for Health Systems Research and Development; Center for Natural Hazards Mitigation Research; N.C. Agromedicine Institute; N.C. Center for Biodiversity; Rural Education Institute
  • Elizabeth City State University: Drug Information Center
  • N.C. A&T State University: Center for Cooperative Systems; Center for Human Machine Studies
  • N.C. Central University: Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change; Juvenile Justice Institute
  • N.C. State University: Institute for Emerging Issues
  • UNC-Chapel Hill: Carolina Center for Public Service; Carolina Women’s Center; Center for Faculty Excellence; Center for Law and Government; Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity; James B. Hunt, Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy; Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History; UNC Center for Civil Rights; University of North Carolina Institute on Aging
  • UNC Greensboro: Center for Creative Writing in the Arts; Center for Educational Research and Evaluation; Center for New North Carolinians; Center for Social, Community and Health Research and Evaluation
  • UNC Wilmington: Swain Center for Business and Economic Services
  • Western Carolina University: Cherokee Center at WCU; Public Policy Institute
  • Winston-Salem State University: Center for Community Safety; Center for Economic Analysis