The Assembly

We are dedicated to bringing you engaging, well-researched, and thoughtful stories about North Carolina. The Assembly is an online magazine focused on the individuals, organizations, and concepts that influence our state. Our articles are crafted by freelance writers and enhanced by the work of freelance photographers and creatives. We invite you to share your story ideas with us, and you can learn more about how to pitch your ideas here.

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UNC-Chapel Hill Has Delayed Tenure Votes in Most Departments This Spring

1 week ago | theassemblync.com | Erin Gretzinger |Matt Hartman

Some UNC-Chapel Hill faculty say they are concerned about a recent Board of Trustees decisionâ€”or, rather, non-decisionâ€”on faculty tenure and promotion cases. At the boardâ€™s meeting in March, trustees delayed taking up personnel actions until the May meeting. Then during a closed-session meeting on May 22, the trustees approved 18 new tenure cases, promotions, and appointments.
For the Tuscarora, Tradition and Politics Clash in Quest for State Recognition

1 week ago | theassemblync.com | Sarah Nagem

Ed Goodwin quickly took a liking to Leon Locklear when the two men met more than a decade ago. It might have seemed an unlikely friendship: Goodwin, a Chowan County native, was an up-and-coming Republican in North Carolina politics. Locklear was the chief of the Tuscarora Nation’s Maxton longhouse in Robeson County 220 miles away, then a well-established Democratic stronghold. But Locklear reminded Goodwin of the Native Americans he knew as a child in the northeastern corner of the state.
Paperhand Celebrates 25 years of People, Puppetry, and Politics

1 week ago | theassemblync.com | Sayaka Matsuoka

The creature looks out, a carefree expression on its face, as three interns gather to make an incision around its skull, from ear to ear. Then, they slice down the center of the creature’s throat and start to pull. Slowly, the papier-mâché beaver’s head starts to slide off of its mold as the interns gently but firmly coax it off, inch by inch. A moment later, the beaver is free, held aloft by one of the artists. “Wow, good job guys,” one says. “The magic of birth,” says another.
A Small, Private College Got $40 Million in State Funds for Cybersecurity Training

1 week ago | theassemblync.com | Ren Larson

In 2018, the state legislature gave Montreat College, which has fewer than 1,000 students, $2 million to use toward building a regional cybersecurity training center in nearby Black Mountain in Buncombe County. The next year, legislators upped the ante by agreeing to give Montreat $20 million for the regional facility known as the Carolina Cyber Center. The eight-figure sum to a private, Christian college was unprecedented.
North Carolina’s Deadliest Industrial Accident, 100 Years On

1 week ago | theassemblync.com | Elizabeth Friend

There were no canaries in Chatham County’s Coal Glen mine—only rats, mules, and men. On the morning of May 27, 1925, according to local legend, the rats fled. Three underground explosions killed at least 53 men that day, decimating families in the nearby mining villages.
Charlotte Police Chief To Retire With $305,000 Severance

1 week ago | theassemblync.com | Michael Graff

This article is co-published with The Charlotte Optimist. Johnny Jennings has answered a great many questions about his recent challenges as Charlotte’s police chief, just not publicly. He can’t escape conversations about it. With his staff. With his wife and grown sons. With his mom, who is 84 years old and in Tennessee and calls whenever she sees a headline and asks, “Are they messing with you in Charlotte?”And especially with his fellow police chiefs around the country.
The History of Greensboro's King Cotton Hotel

2 weeks ago | theassemblync.com | Gale Melcher

At the intersection of Davie and Market streets, across from the J. Douglas Galyon Depot, there’s a barren plot of land—a quiet void at the center of Greensboro’s bustling downtown. Concrete slabs adorned with graffiti and wildflowers hint at a former life. A postcard sent from Greensboro to Baltimore in 1956 paints a grand view of the 13-story King Cotton Hotel, which opened at that very intersection in January 1927 with 250 guest rooms.
State Fires a Disaster Relief Subcontractor Founded by Former ReBuild NC Boss

2 weeks ago | theassemblync.com | Lisa Sorg

The North Carolina Division of Emergency Management last week fired a subcontractor that had been founded by top officials at ReBuild NC, the now discredited state agency that botched response efforts after hurricanes Matthew and Florence in 2016 and 2018. The company, PathBuilt, had been hired to work on disaster recovery in western North Carolina.
Small Businesses Feel the Pain of Tariffs and Economic Uncertainty

2 weeks ago | theassemblync.com | Ben Rappaport |Heidi Pérez-Moreno

As the owner of a small business, Bree Sanders is in a tough spot. The prices of ingredients for the protein shakes and tea bombs she sells at Whiteville Nutrition have risen every month this year, she said. Each box of vitamin B-12 is $11 more than it was in January. Her herbal tea is $6 more per box. She orders at least a box of each three times per week. “I’m definitely making less money now,” said Sanders, who has owned the downtown shop since last May. “Do I want to raise prices? Yes. Should I? Yes.
N.C. Folk Festival Returns to 'Find Common Sound'

2 weeks ago | theassemblync.com | Joe Killian

The N.C. Folk Festival will return to downtown Greensboro September 12-14 with an eclectic roster of Grammy award-winning headliners, up-and-coming stars, home-grown talents, and world music legends. This year’s theme: “Find Common Sound.”Jodee Ruppel is the festival’s executive director and ethnomusicologist Savannah Thorne its programming chair. We caught up with them to talk about what that means and how the festival, held in Greensboro since 2015, continues to evolve.