Just a few hours after UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts engaged in an open and respectful conversation with the Coalition for Carolina, trustee Marty Kotis, once again, pulled out his political hatchet and started swinging away at us.
Kotis misrepresented our coalition, called former UNC System President Margaret Spellings a “RINO” and dismissed Chancellor Roberts’ participation in our webinar as “trying to play nice.”
It didn’t take Kotis long to attack us. Our webinar with the Chancellor ended at 11:45 am Wednesday, and his comments were posted in an article by Joe Killian of Newsline at 2:39 pm.
The article said, “Roberts sitting down with the coalition is part of his being open to everyone as the University’s new chancellor,” Kotis said,” but not something he would personally do as a trustee.”
Kotis’ comments are contrary to the spirit that Roberts demonstrated throughout the hour and 15 minutes – and to the open, non-partisan and fact-based debate that the University needs at this critical time.
At the beginning of the webinar, the interim chancellor said “debate about the future is good.” He welcomed “a respectful exchange of ideas.”
Kotis seems more interested in an exchange of insults.
He called our coalition “a political organization.”
That’s not true. We are 501c3 and c4 organizations that have only one primary mission. That mission is to advocate for Carolina’s faculty and administration against governance overreach from the Board of Trustees and others. With the guidance of some of North Carolina’s best attorneys, we strictly adhere to the laws governing such organizations. We do not engage in partisan politics.
Kotis took a shot at me: “I think he (Roger Perry) ended one of his videos basically telling people that they need to vote at the polls. And so, you know, we know what that means. If you don’t like what’s happening at the University, vote Democrat. They are using the topic of the University as a wedge issue.”
As I recall, I did do so unapologetically. I am proud of encouraging North Carolinians to vote. Does Kotis not want everyone eligible, to vote?
The Newsline article noted that Kotis “has sparred with the Coalition and its founders since its founding.”
Killian wrote:
“The group concentrates on divisive political issues surrounding the University and UNC System, Kotis said, without spending an equal amount of time talking about the university’s many successes and laudable metrics.”
Kotis is partly right. We’re concerned because some trustees and the North Carolina General Assembly are using “divisive political issues” in a way that jeopardizes “the University’s many successes and laudable metrics.”
As the Newsline article noted, our coalition is nonpartisan. We are Democrats, Republicans and Independents. We are alumni, faculty members and supporters of the University. We are former trustees and Board of Governors members who, as Killian wrote, “are concerned about the politicization of the university and political overreach by the legislature.” We are nearly 30,000 strong.
Killian reported:
“The group emphasized that bipartisan concern in a recent webinar discussion with former UNC System Presidents Tom Ross and Margaret Spellings, a Democrat and Republican respectively, who co-chaired the governor’s commission that produced a series of reform suggestions.”
Kotis replied by calling Spellings, who served as secretary of education under former President George W. Bush, a “RINO” — Republican in Name Only.
That’s insulting to Spellings. It’s immaterial. And it’s hurtful to UNC.
The University would be better served if trustee Kotis emulated the open, nonpartisan spirit that Interim Chancellor Roberts demonstrated in our webinar.
Roger Perry of Chapel Hill, a UNC graduate, served on the Board of Trustees from 2002-2010 and as chair of the trustees from 2006-2008. He is a co-founder of the Coalition for Carolina.
Kudos to Roger for his effective leadership and straightforward communication with Kotis.
I can’t imagine why anyone would want the Democrats to regain control of the NC legislature……. The Republicans are doing so much to advance the perception of our state in the country, so much for Women’s rights and health care choices, so much to advocate for and protect voters rights, so much to advocate for the public education system, so much to encourage a shift from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources, so much to promote the arts, so much to strip that pesky governor of power……I think you get my point.
Amen. james moeser
Marty Kotis has a political addenda and ought not to be on either the UNC Chapel Hill or UNC System Board of Governors. I hope the outcome of November’s elections send him a message
It is absurd that we have a Trustee who behaves like that. Embarrassing actually.
The tagline for the new Program for Public Discourse is “Promoting Civic Virtue, Fostering Civil Debate.” Our leaders might need to practice what they preach.
Kotis has demonstrated over and over again that he doesn’t appreciate or understand some basic concepts of civil discourse, such as tolerance, mutual respect, and thoughtful listening. My late mother would have put it more bluntly: “Someone,” she likely would have said, “should teach that fellow some manners.”
So help me understand how Kotis can make such public remarks and there is nary a word out of any of the rest of the UNC Board of Trustees. Is this a tacit “approval” of his comments? Last time I checked, John Preyer “spoke” for the Board, not Kotis. I am pleased that Lee Roberts was willing to engage in an open and courteous dialogue on the webinar. It does trouble me that a person with NO ties to the University was chosen as the Interim Chancellor. As previously cited: “Roberts’ lack of experience in educational administration and actions during his tenure as state budget director that were perceived as contrary to the interests of higher education and inclusivity”. And, he’s a Duke guy. Surely there are better choices.