Tag: University of North Carolina

As disputes at North Carolina and Michigan State take partisan overtones, can boards, leaders, faculty members and lawmakers back away from polarization to lead public universities effectively? On Monday, UNC Chapel Hill chancellor Carol Folt handed in her resignation at the same time as she decided to remove the remnants of the toppled Silent Sam Confederate monument. In North Carolina, Folt was a leader who had faced criticism for not acting as she unsuccessfully supported a middle-of-the-road solution between progressive activists who wanted the statue off campus and a conservative system board that did not. During Thursday’s meeting to accept Engler’s resignation, trustees maintained that they were acting in the university’s best interest, not in a political fashion. “It’s not a partisan decision,” said Dan Kelly, the board’s vice chair. The Board of Governors is elected by the state Legislature, which has been Republican since 2010. Chapel Hill’s Faculty Council unanimously voted in October to keep the statue off campus and remove its base, according to Sherryl Kleinman, professor emerita of sociology at Chapel Hill. Do faculty matter, or does the situation come down to the powerful boards and their dynamics with the chancellor, she asked. We should be, I think, leaders on those issues. At Michigan State, some trustees tried to look forward after accepting Engler’s resignation Thursday morning.

Video Playback Not Supported Video Player is loading. If you are using IE 10 or lower please consider using IE 11, Edge, Chrome, or Firefox. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque Font Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps Reset restore all settings to the default valuesDone Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Local students push political dialogue over division Advertisement Durham, N.C. — The fight over what to do with the Silent Sam statue on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has turned into a fight in recent months. Emotions have become so inflamed that people have been assaulted and arrested in multiple protests surrounding the monument. Video Playback Not Supported Video Player is loading. Over the weekend, students from area universities, including Duke, UNC, North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University came together for a conference at Duke to help their peers engage in productive political dialogue and reach some common ground. Zachary Kronsberg, a Duke freshman who grew up talking politics, came to learn.