The building was Carolina's student union from 1932 to 1968, when the Frank Porter Graham Student Union opened. Since then, it has housed the dramatic art department. The goal was to find ways to not only enrich the intellectual atmosphere on campus, but to make Carolina a national leader and model forother institutions. I offer my deepest gratitude to Pamela Conover, who so ably chaired the task force, and to all of its members. They have done a tremendous service to the University by bringing this issue to the forefront and by offering a wealth of recommendations for us now to discuss and debate.
Intellectual climate is an amorphous concept.
It is difficult to articulate, but something you recognize when you see. It has to do with the general ambiance of the campus. If a student down the hall is writing a paper on Moby Dick, for example, in a campus with a rich intellectual climate others on the floor would enthusiastically share their opinions about what Melville was saying to the reader. Sometimes, among youth, there is a reluctance to reveal one's learning for fear of appearing pretentious. In a good intellectual climate that reticence does not exist.