Making Sense of the Senseless with NIH

“Chaos” is not a word you want associated with scientific research. But it’s gracing countless headlines as the Trump administration pulled the plug on National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding that powers our research institutions, including UNC. As NC Health News detailed in a Jan. 27 article about North Carolina funding by NIH: “UNC Chapel […]
Application Status: Rejected Due to Preyer Commitments?

The response to last week’s piece about Bill Belichick and faculty salaries was overwhelming. If you missed it in your inbox, you can check it out here. Whether or not you think Belichick is the right fit for UNC, it’s clear there is concern about UNC’s priorities when weighing sports versus academics – and the […]
Belichick scored big. Where’s faculty’s payday?

We’ve kept mum so far, but surely, you’ve gotten an earful from your Carolina friends: here comes Bill Belichick. And as we all know, it didn’t come cheap. Belichick scored a five-year, $50 million contract – double that of his predecessor Mack Brown. Still, there had been speculation that Belichick might swap his Carolina blue […]
UNC Trustees Exposed for Inappropriately Meddling in Admissions

Just in time for the holidays, a story broke about the secret gifts a few UNC Trustees have been giving their well-connected friends: improper and unfair advantages in the UNC admissions process. In December, the publication The Assembly attained a slew of text messages through a public records request that exposed the undue influence Trustees […]
Vote to Support Carolina

As we head to the polls over the next few weeks, there are many important national issues, and several high profile local issues, that make the headlines each week and will influence our votes. A local issue that is not making a lot of headlines is how the outcome of the election will impact UNC […]
The Installation of Chancellor Lee H. Roberts

For your convenience, we are including access to a video of the entire Installation Ceremony for Chancellor Lee Roberts. Below is extracted text of the speech that he delivered after he was sworn in as the 13th Chancellor of the University of North Carolina. ______________________________________________________________________________ Welcome, everyone. President Hans. Chief Justice Newby. Chair Murphy. […]
Trustees Held Accountable for Bad Behavior

On Thursday, trustee John Preyer read the following statement at a regularly scheduled trustees meeting: “[In] May of 2024, a legal complaint was filed against the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, alleging violations of the North Carolina Open Meetings Act. The board disputes the lawsuit, but the lawsuit has […]
SCiLL Looks Like What We Feared: Origins May be Destiny

We vowed to keep an open mind about the new School of Civic Life and Leadership that was mandated at UNC by trustees and the legislature. But the school looks more and more like what we were told it wouldn’t be: a center for right-wing views and something removed or exempt from normal university hiring […]
We Hope Lee Roberts Can Right the Wrongs at UNC

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 […]
Trustees Tried to Bully Bubba, But Got Called for a Foul

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 […]