To boost campus pride and heighten students' awareness of the Carolinian Creed, the Carolina Judicial Council is sponsoring Carolinian Creed Week.
The week's events include Tuesday night's production of "The Birdcage," the annual drag show hosted by BGLSA and Carolina Productions, and Friday's World Night, sponsored by the International Student Association.
The Carolinian Creed, a value statement that all those invested in the university pledge to follow, was written in the late 1980s following a string of violent on-campus incidents. Ever since, the Creed has been incorporated into campus culture in many ways, as a signed statement during enrollment and in University 101 classes.
"My U101 professor explained the Carolinian Creed to us," said Mazie Jasper, a first-year business student. "I had never really heard or thought about it until then."
Carolinian Creed Week brings together students, staff and faculty to participate in programs that exhibit the values apparent in the Creed. Each activity is designed to increase campus unity and to promote academic and personal integrity. Creed Week, which takes place in the spring semester (Carolinian Creed Day is in the fall semester) features speakers and student-sponsored events.
Carolinian Creed Week began with each academic department organizing specific events, but in 1997 the Office of Student Judicial Programs took over the project with the help of the Carolina Judicial Council. CJC's job is to ensure all students have the opportunity to become fully engaged in activities that will allow them to become more knowledgeable of the Carolinian Creed.
Endra Curry, a third-year international studies, economics and sport and entertainment management student, serves as the vice president of Creed Programming. She plans and develops presentations and ceremonies to promote and reinforce the Carolina Creed on campus and also collaborates with other campus organizations to coordinate events to increase awareness within the Carolina community.
"I really want to make it more relevant to the new generation," Curry said. "It's difficult to hold someone's interest about something that is not presented to them in a way that they are comfortable with."
Creed Week opened with a kickoff on Greene Street at 11 a.m on Monday.