The Pit is a central gathering place for students, a sunken plaza located between Lenoir Dining Hall, two libraries, the student union, and student stores. Because it is a highly trafficked space, many student organizations over the years, including the Black Awareness Council, the Real Silent Sam Coalition, and Students Seeking Historical Truth have used the Pit as a location for speak-outs and rallies. In 1971, members of a white motorcycle gang, the Storm Troopers, stabbed James Lewis Cates, a young Black Chapel Hill citizen in the Pit after a party on the campus as the Chapel Hill police watched without intervening.
Organization: BCC Movement, Real Silent Sam Coalition, Black Student Movement, Black Awareness Council
Space Use: Open Space
Spatial Organizing Approach: Contestation
Date Created: 1969
Campus Space: Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, Lenoir Hall and Manning Hall, The Fishbowl, Saunders Hall