Leaders are not ‘anti-bonfire’

Due to a reporting error, this story misstated the relationship between Carolina Athletic Association and Carolina Fever, which is an independent student fan group. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.

Student Body President Jasmin Jones is starting to feel the heat from other student leaders about her plan to extinguish bonfire culture on Franklin Street.

Leaders of the Carolina Athletic Association and its principal student fan group, Carolina Fever, which would likely be Jones’ vehicles for implementing any kind of change in policy, said they are not sure eliminating the bonfire celebrations is the best plan.

“We are very pro-safety, all about safety,” said CAA President John Russell. “But as of now, I don’t necessarily think we’re anti-bonfires.”

Since this summer, Jones has said she wants to implement safer celebrations after major basketball victories, which would include hiring disc jockeys and implementing a more party-like atmosphere.

She said she is willing to press on with her plan, even if the CAA and Carolina Fever are not willing to sign on.

“I want them to be part of it, but it’s OK if they have dissenting opinions on fires,” she said. “We can take the strong arm. It’s going to take a backlash, but we’re ready for it.”

Russell said he supports Jones but wants to hear students’ opinions before taking a more decisive stance.

“I was elected by the students, and I need to represent them,” he said.

Unlike his predecessor, who pushed strongly for eliminating dangerous celebrations, Russell said the difficulty in preventing students from lighting bonfires makes him reluctant to take action.

“It’s been a tradition in Chapel Hill for a very long time,” he said. “We can’t just come in, like, ‘We have to stop doing this,’” he said.

Carolina Fever co-chairman Desmond Rowe agreed that stopping the bonfires would involve extensive action.

“You can’t just abolish something when it’s a group of willing adults who know the risk,” he said. “It’s like getting in a car every day.”

After touring the N.C. Jaycee Burn Center with Jones on Sept. 25, Rowe said he understands the danger of burns but does not think the Franklin Street bonfires are excessively hazardous.

“If 60,000 people were there and 12 got burned, that’s not even 1 percent,” he said. “I’d understand the impact if someone died.”

Eight students were admitted to the burn center the night the men’s basketball team won the national championship last year.

“No night of fun is worth a life,” Jones said in response to Rowe’s statement.

Russell said it will be a long time before Jones gets a chance to test her plan, which will allow for more campus discussion.

“No one’s going to be lighting fires for our football team,” he said.

Rowe said students have been lighting fires after important victories including national championships and Duke games even though it is illegal.

“It may be very expensive and just not pragmatic for us,” he said. “We don’t want to create more chaos and friction between students and Chapel Hill.”

Rowe said he also plans to consult his constituency before taking a more pronounced stance.

“Jones’s administration will only be here for the remainder of the year,” he said. “This affects not just us but future Carolina students.”

Rowe said the decision to light bonfires ultimately belongs to the students, and that they would have to sign on to any change for it to be effective.

“Promoting safety is wonderful,” he said. “But if willing students want to take a risk, that is their risk to take.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.