The future of the UNC Campus Y building – which was closed temporarily by the university administration during protests in May – is now in the hands of a committee appointed by Chancellor Lee Roberts.
The Daily Tar Heel, in a story by Akash Bhowmik, reported this week:
“The committee, comprised of 15 alumni, students and faculty, will be tasked with providing recommendations to the chancellor on building usage, including operating hours and access.
“Chaired by chancellor emeritus James Moeser and former Board of Trustees chair Richard Stevens, the group is scheduled to meet each Friday and deliver a final report by Nov. 1.”
The DTH described the Campus Y as “UNC’s largest public service student organization, consisting of three separate entities, UNC Y— a department within Student Affairs, the Campus Y Student Organization and the Campus Y building itself.”
Stevens, one of the committee chairs, said, “We were told at our first meeting that there are over 900 recognized student groups, so the process of how space is reserved for meetings for various groups is certainly important,”
Roberts appointed the committee this summer, and the first meeting was August 1.
University administrators closed the Y building last April 30, the day 36 members of a pro-Palestinian protest were charged with trespassing.
After the closing, Korie Dean wrote in The News & Observer May 9, “outcry from the campus and the broader university community poured in immediately.”
The N&O quoted one alum:
“This is absolutely insane. As an alum who considered the Y a second home during my time at UNC, I cannot reiterate enough how detrimental this is for the student body. This is quite literally destroying any sense of community that many students have. It is not only affecting students and faculty, but also the greater Chapel Hill community that relies on organizations housed within the Y for resources and support.”
We encourage alumni and members of our Coalition who have opinions about the Campus Y to contact the Chancellor or members of the committee. Or send us your comments, and we will post them and bring them to the attention of UNC’s leadership.
Our Coalition hopes that Lee Roberts will be the right leader at the right time for the University of North Carolina.
We are cautiously optimistic that our new chancellor will protect against interference by legislators and trustees that has eroded UNC’s academic excellence, integrity and independence.
His selection had been widely expected since April, when he was endorsed by two powerful legislators: Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore. They praised his handling of pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
Their statements and the accelerated search process concern many people on campus and in our coalition.
But Roberts’ strong political support may give him the standing to resist outside interference. In his first media interview this week, he said his experience working with state leaders will be “useful and relevant.”
He has pledged publicly to be independent and nonpartisan. He has reiterated that intention in private conversations. He pushed back in May when some trustees targeted long-time Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham.
Roberts has the backing of UNC System President Peter Hans, who in January sent the Board of Trustees a letter cautioning them to, as one trustee put it, “stay in our lanes.” Hans reminded trustees that their role is to be advisers and advocates for the university, not to run it.
On Monday, his first day as chancellor, Roberts was interviewed by Korie Dean of The News & Observer. She wrote:
“Roberts said his experience working with state leaders will be ‘useful and relevant, both in budget discussions with the General Assembly and more broadly’.”
In the interview, Roberts also talked about the future of DEI programs, campus protests and his relationship with the Board of Trustees.
Holden Thorp, who was chancellor from 2008 to 2013, wrote on Facebook this weekend:
“In the current era of higher education, Lee Harriss Roberts is the best choice to lead UNC now. Traditional academics (including me) have tried to serve in the role the last 14 years and gotten our souls crushed by trying to adapt our academic values to the demands of the current moment. Lee has the skills needed to navigate these situations. For those who think this is a political takeover, maybe best to remember that the political takeover happened in 2010 (I oughta know).
“My quote: ‘That’s a hard job…. He has many of the tools you need to do it. The fact that I might disagree with him about policy on one thing or another, well, these things have been hashed out in North Carolina for the last 15 years and it’s clear where it’s going, and I think he’ll do a great job of leading the university in this environment’.”
President Hans’ Statement
UNC President Hans, who selected Roberts from four candidates identified by the search committee and recommended by the Board of Trustees, said in his announcement:
“Every era is unique in its challenges and the possibilities it presents, and as a result, every chancellor search is different. We have found the right leader for this moment in Carolina’s history because the questions facing public higher education are wide ranging, enormously complex and likely to become magnified in the years ahead.”
He added, “Leadership in Chapel Hill is not for the faint of heart.”
In the UNC System’s news release, Hans said:
“When I appointed Lee Roberts as interim chancellor, I said that Carolina would benefit from his calm, steady and focused leadership, and it has. He has a deep respect for the university’s traditions and excellence, but also a conviction that Carolina has room to grow and improve. He is someone with the right combination of reverence for this university’s history and restless aspirations for its next chapter.”
“Originally expected to conclude near the end of the year, the search sped up considerably in recent days, with Roberts being named just over a week after an undisclosed number of candidates completed interviews with the search committee and four days after the campus Board of Trustees submitted finalists to Hans.
“The accelerated timeline meant students and other campus community members were given fewer chances to weigh-in on the search than the committee originally announced, leaving some students to feel that their voices went unheard during the process.”
Why was the process sped up? Apparently, UNC System leaders wanted a permanent chancellor in place before students return this week – and before there are more protests.
Roberts’ Eight Months as Interim Chancellor
In The Assembly, “What Lee Roberts’ Interim Months Tell Us About How He’ll Lead UNC-Chapel Hill,” Erin Gretzinger quoted both criticism and praise for the new chancellor:
“Roberts has extensive political connections from his time as state budget chief under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, but critics have noted his lack of significant academic experience and that much of his previous work was in behind-the-scenes finance roles. An alumnus of Duke and Georgetown universities, Roberts had no UNC System ties before his appointment to the Board of Governors in 2021.
“Still, in his semester as chancellor, Roberts secured support from conservative governing board members and politicians—and even impressed and surprised some skeptics.
“Faculty who spoke with The Assembly, including leaders who’ve worked with Roberts directly and others watching from a distance, conceded that he’s shown chops for managing the complex constituencies of higher education and a willingness to listen, even when he might not like what he hears.”
UNC has had 13 chancellors in the almost 80 years since World War II. Roberts is the fourth in the 16 years since 2008.
The turnover has come since Republicans took control of the General Assembly – and appointments to the Board of Governors and Board Trustees – in 2010.
Since then, there have been three chancellors. Thorp stepped down in 2013. The next two were forced out: Carol Folt in 2019 and Kevin Guskiewicz last year.
Chair John Preyer and his allies on the UNC Board of Trustees have a history of bullying, harassing and intimidating long-time UNC leaders – even forcing some to leave Carolina.
This time, the bullies got called out.
They planned a secret, closed-door meeting where they would pummel and pillory Bubba Cunningham, who has been our highly respected Athletics Director since 2011, over his department’s finances.
But they miscalculated.
Within days, UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts defended Cunningham: “Our Athletic Director is one of the most senior, well-respected, well-regarded, admired athletic directors in the country.”
View Roberts’ comments here:
Then, as The News & Observer reported:
A social media post during an evening jog on May 13 first caught David McKenzie’s attention. The Triangle-based lawyer immediately hopped off the treadmill at Duke Faculty Club and grabbed his computer to learn more.
McKenzie had just read that the UNC Board of Trustees was planning to discuss athletics matters in closed session.
He said, “The closed session part really got my attention…. The smell test did not pass.”
Two days later, McKenzie filed a complaint in Orange County Superior Court accusing UNC and its Board of Trustees of violating the state’s Open Meetings Laws.
He was right. Now, UNC has agreed to pay $25,000 to settle his claim.
And, “at the next Board of Trustees meeting, UNC must make a statement in open session acknowledging the lawsuit, reaffirming the board’s commitment to adhering to the Open Meetings Act and clarifying the matter has been resolved.”
“If they’re gonna take the public’s money, they gotta do things in public,” McKenzie told The N&O.
This wasn’t the first time that a respected, long-time UNC leader was targeted by Preyer and his allies on the board.
Their actions led Kevin Guskiewicz to leave after 30 years at UNC and five years as our 12th chancellor. As we reported when he left last December:
The last four years have been brutal….
Consider his first faculty meeting following his permanent naming to the position. He had to describe, if not defend, a ridiculous settlement with the Sons of the Confederate Veterans to keep a contested Civil War statue permanently off our campus.
Then came the tenure battle of Nikole Hannah Jones and the threatened firing of the Chancellor for supporting her and the faculty….
Fast forward to February 2023 when he was lambasted by the BOT and directed to “accelerate the development of a School of Civic Life and Leadership.”
We know of numerous instances where respected, veteran faculty members and administrators have been subjected to mistreatment by the trustees – in open session and behind closed doors. A number of good people have left. The turnover at the top has been tumultuous and damaging to Carolina.
We won’t name those individuals. Unlike Preyer & Co., we respect them and their contributions to UNC.
This latest incident makes us question whether these trustees have read their own governing documents about their limited authority and the state’s open-meetings law.
UNC has to pay $25,000 for their folly.
Trustees volunteer a lot of time to UNC. They deserve appreciation for their service.
However, when they disrespect other university leaders, established processes and the law, their behavior must be called out and challenged.
