What N.C.’s “REACH” Act Gets Right. The General Assembly has an obligation to encourage civic literacy on UNC campuses.

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | April 10, 2023 | Shannon Watkins

[karpov]

UNC students aren’t getting a solid foundation in civics. UNC-Chapel Hill, for example, does not require its students to take a course in American government. It does, however, require them to take a three-credit course called Global Understanding and Engagement.

A course in American history or government isn’t even required for majors where knowledge of civics is particularly important. UNC history majors, for instance, aren’t required to take a course in U.S. Government. But they are required to take “at least one History Department course in the area of African, Asian, and Middle Eastern History or in Latin American History.” For the journalism major, an American Government class is one of seven courses students may choose from.

Unfortunately, as noted in our Blueprint for Reform on Civics Education, civic ignorance among college students is a national problem.

According to findings from the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, over half of college students do not know the term lengths of members of Congress, and nearly 40 percent do not know which branch of the government has the authority to declare war. 70 percent misidentified Thomas Jefferson as the father of the Constitution. 16 percent thought that Independence Day commemorated the signing of the Constitution (and four percent thought it had to do with the British surrender at Yorktown).

[fieldmarshaldj]

Easier to manipulate students when they’re deliberately dumbed down and brainwashed into the Marxist ideology.

[BuchananBrigadeTrumpFan]

The bill is useless if the US history course is all CRT garbage.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

That’s what Richard Dreyfus says. He tours the country speaking on that very subject.

[semimojo]

UNC history majors, for instance, aren’t required to take a course in U.S. Government. But they are required to take “at least one History Department course in the area of African, Asian, and Middle Eastern History or in Latin American History.”

That sounds right.

No university history major should need a basic course in US government. UNC isn't a middle school.

[BuchananBrigadeTrumpFan]

When 60% of the students are foreigners, a US history course isn’t a bad idea.

[Midwesterner53]

The Republicans now have a super majority in both houses of the NC legislature. Time to start making changes at UNC and the other very woke schools and areas of state government.