The new school at UNC Chapel Hill is celebrated as a beacon of open dialogue and the exchange of diverse perspectives.

The School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill aims to promote civil public discourse among its students and teach them how to engage in constructive disagreements, even in a time when the country is becoming increasingly polarized and censorship is becoming more prevalent.

Atkins, a former leader of a similar program at Duke University, stated on the school's website that SCiLL prepares students for citizenship and civic leadership by promoting a culture of free speech and offering an education that emphasizes the search for meaning and the development of skills for civil discourse and wise decision-making.

The growing concern that colleges and universities are less welcoming to the free exchange of ideas is not limited to schools that feed into this issue.

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board praised SCiLL as a "new shining star for traditional liberal thought" in a Tuesday article, declaring its emergence as a "triumph over the progressive monolith that sought to suppress it."

Last year, UNC faculty members expressed their disapproval of the board of trustees' decision to expedite the establishment of the school.

A university faculty member, who was quoted in The Daily Tar Heel, expressed surprise upon learning about the resolution at the time.

Several faculty members were "flabbergasted" and argued that they should have been consulted for input.

In January 2023, David Boliek, the then-chairman of UNC's board of trustees, discussed the school's creation on "Fox & Friends" and stated that there is a "plentiful supply of faculty with liberal, left-wing perspectives at UNC, similar to many institutions nationwide."

"Right-of-center views can't be said to be the same as left-of-center views, so the School of Civic Life and Leadership aims to provide equal opportunities for both views to be taught at the university."

The UNC board of trustees Chairman John Preyer stated that he hopes the experimental program will become a national model for academic freedom and change the entire higher education landscape.

SCiLL will provide courses in philosophy, politics, history, policy, and more, as stated on its website.

The Wall Street Journal reports that some topics of study will include the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the Federalist Papers, and the philosophies of rhetoricians such as Aristotle and Montesquieu.