TOPICS:
Veritas Christian AcademySalt and LightCommunity serviceStudentsOrganizationsFood pantryOperation Christmas ChildService day
FLETCHER, N.C. (WLOS) — Veritas Christian Academy held its annual day of service called Salt and Light, during which students pre-k through high school participate in projects to serve the community.
The projects ranged from packing boxes for Operation Christmas Child to working outside on the school's Fletcher campus.
Over 400 students, teachers and parents worked with 15 organizations:
Jessie Sultenfuss, an eighth-grade student helping with campus beautification, talked about what she sees as benefits for the community through the service day, as well as with her classmates.
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“It’s more to glorify God and give back to the community,” Sultenfuss said. “We get to talk and just work outside all day. That’s normally what we like to do, just stay outside , so it’s actually been a lot of fun."
The event's name, "Salt and Light," is rooted in biblical scripture.
Adam Guice, the parent/teacher fellowship coordinator, said they’ve seen the day's impact stretch beyond the school’s walls.
WARREN WILSON COLLEGE STUDENTS KICK-START THE SCHOOL YEAR WITH COMMUNITY SERVICE DAY
“We’ve had multiple students go home and tell their parents about a local food pantry or another organization and say, ‘Hey’ can we go visit it and find out more about it?'” Guice said.
“They actually go on their own, find out more about it beyond what we do on Salt and Light day,” he said.
For some of the oldest students, it’s a yearly tradition.
School officials said it’s the 10th year of the event and they aim to make it bigger and better each year.
For more information on Salt and Light, click HERE.
TOPICS:
Transgender studentsUNC AshevilleHousing policyLegal documentationGender identityDEI policiesStudent concernsCampus safetyASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Transgender students say University of North Carolina Asheville's new housing policy requirements target trans students, UNCA says that’s false.
News 13 has confirmed an updated UNCA policy that dates back to 2013, that may force transgender students living in dorms to live with suitemates who’s sex they don’t identify with.
News 13 spoke with three students who received notice of an on-campus housing policy change. All report they are transgender. Each said UNCA is requiring documentation of their legal gender that may include their gender at birth.
The UNC Policy Manual on campus housing obtained by News 13 shows it was adopted by the UNC System on August 9, 2013.
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The policy reads: “The constituent institutions shall not assign members of the opposite sex to any institutionally owned and operated dormitory room, dormitory suite, or campus apartment unless the students are siblings, parent and child, or they are legally married. This policy applies to housing assignments beginning with the fall 2013 semester.”
On June 11, UNCA’s Housing and Residential Life department sent a six-paragraph email to some students living in dorm rooms.
The email reads in part: “We are reaching out to you today with an update about Housing and Residence Life policy and procedures that will require a change in your housing assignment.” “Please schedule an appointment between June 11 and June 19 to speak with a staff member from Housing and Residence Life.”
“I’m in Aspen Hall on the first floor,” said Ryan Foster, a rising senior at UNCA who identifies as male. “The only separation that occurs is within the rooms themselves.”
Foster said the policy at UNCA says suitemates must be same sex, but dorms are co-ed on all floors. Foster is paying for year-round housing on campus.
Now Foster and other trans students said they’re worried and angered about new DEI policies and this housing change.
“I’ve been consistently identifying as male for longer than I’ve been a student here. The initial email they sent was extremely vague. It kind of sends a lot of people into kind of a panic," Foster said.
Foster said he called UNCA’s housing department and spoke with a staff member.
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“Since me and my suitemates are all in their words, 'in the same situation,' they told me they would just change all of our gender markers to female. I was shocked. I was appalled. I immediately said, 'no. I don’t want that to happen.' They said, 'if you don’t want that to happen, you guys are all going to have to change your records and we’re going to need legal documentation.' I have legal documentation. I had that even before I applied to come here," Foster said.
Foster is worried for other trans students on campus. He’s especially angry because UNCA for years has promoted itself as an inclusive liberal university, he said.
He finds the changing UNCA climate hypocritical and said policy changes have been extreme since the Trump administration took over.
“Right now, we’re just at a point where we’re trying to keep each other safe. All I want to do is exist. All anyone wants to do is exist," Foster said.
UNCA spokesman Brian Hart emailed a statement in response to allegations of the updated policy targeting trans students:
The June 11, 2025, email you reference was sent to ensure UNC Asheville is compliant with UNC System policy and state and federal law. This was not a “trans (housing) re-assignment initiative” as you describe it, and the email was not targeted to students based on their identity. The email informed directly impacted students of an update to university housing procedures and invited them to meet with University Housing and Residence Life staff to support their residential housing needs. This was not done in response to changes in DEI-related policies.
We continuously review our policies and practices to ensure they comply with UNC System policy, laws, and regulations, and that they align with our mission. UNC Asheville has 16 residence halls and approximately 1,600 students who live on campus.
“I was drawn to this school because it had been advertised as very heavily left-leaning liberal arts school. Over at the library at the quad they used to have these giant banners, three banners. One of them was a pride flag, one was a land acknowledgement, and one I believe was a Black Lives Matter banner. All of those things are now gone.," Foster said. "They just cut a bunch of our liberal arts programs and they’re quickly turning UNCA into the opposite of what they’re still advertising themselves as. I’m concerned for my community here. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
TOPICS:
SteinPeaceful protestsNo KingsDemonstrationsNorth CarolinaTrumpPublic safetyNonviolent protestASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — North Carolina Governor Josh Stein urges those participating in weekend protests to do so "peacefully and lawfully" as communities nationwide plan to hold "No Kings" demonstrations in opposition to President Donald Trump.
NEWSOM, TRUMP STAND OFF: MILITARY PERSONNEL TO REMAIN DEPLOYED IN CALIFORNIA FOR NOW
In a statement issued Friday, June 13, Gov. Stein said he would always work to protect the right to peaceful protest but warned against turning to violence.
"Our nation's history has been shaped by powerful examples of nonviolent protest, and we are the better for them. Turning to violence or destruction, however, risks harming people and property; it will not be tolerated," Stein said. "Keeping North Carolinians safe is an absolute must."
Cities and communities across the country anticipate protests to take place on Saturday, June 14, for the No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance. The protests counter President Trump's planned military parade on the same day, marking the Army's 250th anniversary. The date also coincides with the president's 79th birthday and Flag Day.
'NO KINGS' PROTESTS PLANNED NATIONWIDE, INCLUDING EVENTS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
According to Mobilize.us, there are dozens of "No Kings" protests planned in North Carolina alone, including events in Asheville, Hendersonville, Black Mountain, Waynesville and other western North Carolina towns and cities.
Stein said his office has been in contact with state agencies as well as state and local law enforcement to ensure safety and to protect peaceful protest.
"At a time of heightened tensions, let us work together both to protect our rights and freedoms and to keep everyone safe," the governor said.
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Demonstrations have taken place across the country in the last week, triggered by anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. Hundreds attended an anti-ICE rally in Asheville on Monday, June 9.
Read Gov. Stein's full statement below:
“The right to peacefully protest is sacred and enshrined in our First Amendment, and I will always work to protect that right. I urge everyone who wishes to be heard to do so peacefully and lawfully.
“Our nation’s history has been shaped by powerful examples of nonviolent protest, and we are the better for them. Turning to violence or destruction, however, risks harming people and property; it will not be tolerated. Keeping North Carolinians safe is an absolute must.
“My office has been in contact with relevant state agencies as well as state and local law enforcement both to ensure public safety and to protect North Carolinians’ freedom to peacefully protest. Department of Public Safety Secretary Buffaloe also remains in coordination with local law enforcement agencies across the state to ensure they have any support they may need.
“At a time of heightened tensions, let us work together both to protect our rights and freedoms and to keep everyone safe.”
