Since 2002, controversy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s summer reading program for incoming freshmen have seemingly gone hand in hand.

The book selection committee’s choice for 2002, Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations by Michael Sells, prompted an outcry among some Christian activists and even a lawsuit claiming that the book violated students’ First Amendment rights by promoting Islam.

Last year’s selection of Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America fanned the reading-program controversy. Conservative students on campus claimed the book was unscholarly, Marxist, and amounted to liberal indoctrination at a public university.

The selection committee this year sought to avoid the outcry of the past years by opening the selection process, and this year’s choice is a book that looks at service and the sacrifice by a group of cadets at West Point. In February a nine-member committee chose David Lipsky’s Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point to be recommended for incoming freshmen and transfer students to read during the summer months before attending UNC.

The Lipsky book won in a close decision, 5-4, over Bill McKibber’s Enough: Staying Human in an Endangered Age.

The selection committee comprised three faculty members, three staff representatives, and three students.

Absolutely American is the sixth book to be selected as part of the summer reading program, which began with the freshman class of 1999. That year incoming freshmen and transfer students were assigned to read There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlo-witz.

Besides the two controversial selections, other reading choices have included Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horowitz in 2000, and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman in 2001.

Committee Chair Jan Bardsley said Absolutely American fits into the program’s goal of originating discussion among new students.

“It opens up a lot of discussions for students to think about their own lives at college and what they want to accomplish,” said Bardsley, an assistant professor of Asian studies.

Bardsley also said committee members would have been pleased with either Absolutely American or Enough.

“Our committee felt both books would be worthy selections and remain true to the central purpose of the reading program — to focus on discussions and dialogue,” Bardsley said.

Absolutely American and Enough were among five books that had advanced to the final round of discussions. The committee began with a list of about 500 books that were nominated from students and others with ties to UNC.

Also being considered by the committee were A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, and Middle of Everywhere by Mary Pipher.

The selection of Absolutely American was an appropriate choice, Bardsley said.

“While the experiences of UNC students and West Point cadets are different, our committee felt that the descriptions in Absolutely American would be an appropriate springboard for exploring a wide range of timely topics in the discussion sessions for our new students,” Bardsley said.

Before the committee could advance a book as its selection, committee members had to make their way through the mountain of nominated books. Some of the books that were being considered included the Bible and Plato’s Republic. There were also more obvious political selections in the list including Al Franken’s Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right and David Limbaugh’s Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity.

“We wanted to cast the net as widely as possible in receiving suggestions,” Bardsley said.

By winter break, Bardsley said, the list had been cut from 500 books to about 60. That list was then narrowed even more before members chose Lipsky’s book.

“It was really difficult to get a perfect book,” Bardsley said. “There is really no perfect book.”

This year’s book selection process marked the first in its six-year history that the university opened the meetings for public observation. Chancellor James Moeser said an open selection process was in the university’s best interest.

Memories of previous controversies were on the minds of committee members during portions of the process, Bardsley said. The committee also took into consideration the upcoming presidential election in November.

“For most students, this is their first opportunity to vote in a presidential election,” Bardsley said. “I hope this [book] encourages them to think about that, to think about voting.”

Interviewed by The Herald-Sun in Durham, Lipsky said the book is not political. If anything, Lipsky said, the book is a moderate look at life the military at West Point.

“The army is not political,” Lipsky said. “It’s just people.”

The military, specifically representatives from West Point, approached Lipsky in 1998 with the story idea. West Point officials pitched the idea as a possible feature in Rolling Stone magazine, where Lipsky is a contributing writer.

According to the book’s publishing company, Houghton Mifflin Publishing, West Point agreed to give Lipsky compete access to go where he wanted and talk to whomever he wished.

Skeptical at first, Lipsky spent several years following a cadet class and examining how the cadets adjusted to the West Point lifestyle and regimen.

Reviews have heralded the book as a quality look at life at West Point, which President Theodore Roosevelt called the most “absolutely American institution.”

A review by Publisher’s Weekly says that Absolutely American deals with controversial topics, such as a cadet who was thrown out for backing a subordinate who told a nonpolitically correct joke.

“Ultimately, he came to respect and know the people he was following, future officers of the U.S. Army in a world at war,” the review says.

Bardsley said the book is well-written.

“It’s written in a very approachable style with vignettes,” Bardsley said. “All the West Point students emerged as unique personalities.”

With the selection of Absolutely American complete, the selection committee will soon begin the next stage in the process — organizing group discussions and other programs. Their role will be limited to explaining the reasons for their selection; the Resource Development Committee will plan the small group discussion forum.

Those small group discussions will be held 1-3 p.m. Aug. 23, the day before classes are scheduled to begin at UNC-CH. Students and faculty members will lead the discussions, with possible discussion topics including a look at the sense of duty in the 21st century and examination of the question of whether young adults should be required to serve their nation (West Point cadets must serve five years in the military after graduation).

The information also lists some possible programs, outside of inviting Lipsky to the campus to speak. Some of the program ideas include inviting soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan to share their experiences, discussions involving women and gays in the military, and addressing how service influenced the lives of veterans.

Committee member Zach Clayton, a freshman from Raleigh, told The News and Observer of Raleigh after the book was selected that it would lead to strong debate on issues that students are talking about.

“I think we’ll have a very invigorating discussion on American values and our obligations,” Clayton said.

Blosser is a Carolina Journal contributing editor and a researcher for the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy.