Higher Ed

An Orange County Superior Court Judge effectively scrapped the UNC System’s legal settlement with the NC Sons of Confederate Veterans Wednesday, saying the group had no legal standing to sue for ownership of the “Silent Sam” Confederate monument and $2.5 million for its care. Judge Allen Baddour initially signed off on the consent judgement in the case, but when the agreement was challenged by students, faculty and alumni he said he would take another look at the details of the case.

Fear of political retribution drives some campus leaders to play ball, keep mum When the UNC Board of Governors weighed in on the state budget stalemate last month, it didn’t just take a side in a partisan political fight between a Democratic governor and the Republican majority in the legislature. It asked the individual boards of trustees of all 16 UNC universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics to follow suit. This week a half-dozen trustees from those schools told Policy Watch they are uncomfortable wading into the partisan fight, but fear Republican legislative leaders will remove or fail to re-appoint them if they don’t follow orders.

A barrage of briefs were filed Wednesday in the ongoing case against UNC’s agreement to give the Silent Sam Confederate statue to the NC Division of the Sons of Confederate veterans – along with $2.5 million. A group of 88 prominent UNC-Chapel Hill alumni and donors moved to file an amicus brief in the case.

The controversial Silent Sam settlement now faces challenges from both a judge reexamining the agreement and a lawsuit claiming the UNC Board of Governors violated the state open meetings law in negotiating and approving it. As the NC division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans continues to fight to preserve the deal...

A national civil rights group will intervene on behalf of its clients in the lawsuit that led to the controversial settlement in which the UNC System handed over $2.5 million to the Sons of Confederate Veterans – along with the polarizing ”Silent Sam” statue.

Members of the UNC Board of Governors publicly condemned member Tom Fetzer’s secret, independent investigation of East Carolina University's former interim chancellor of ECU Thursday, with some, including the board’s chair, saying consequences for his actions should be discussed.

Lawmakers criticize probe as "threat to academic freedom" U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Michigan) and U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) sent a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos last week outlining concerns and requesting documentation regarding the department’s investigation into the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle Eastern Studies curriculum.

State lawmakers, UNC students and LGBTQ advocates are pushing back on the idea of N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) as the next president of the UNC System. Last week state lawmakers and members of the UNC Board of Governors began speaking openly about persistent rumors Moore will seek the position.

Rumors of N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore’s interest in becoming the next President of the UNC System went from whispers in the hallway of the General Assembly to speeches on the House floor Wednesday.

The already chaotic political environment of the UNC System and its Board of Governors has been further roiled by a new series of shock waves over the last two weeks that includes:

Tamia Sanders’ voice trembled as she looked out on a large rally crowd from the steps of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Wilson Library in April. She was there to talk about the ongoing opposition to the return of the “Silent Sam” Confederate monument and the mistreatment of student activists by the campus police.

Restoring the "Silent Sam" Confederate monument to its original place at UNC-Chapel Hill is "not the right path," UNC Board of Governors Chairman Harry Smith said Wednesday. His thinking has undergone an evolution, Smith said at a press conference following a full meeting of the board of governors.

At its meeting next week, the UNC Board of Governors was scheduled to unveil a new plan for the future of the Confederate monument known as “Silent Sam.” But late Tuesday afternoon, board Chairman Harry Smith released a statement saying the board has decided to again postpone it.

At their May 21-22 meeting, the UNC Board of Governors is scheduled to hear a long-delayed plan for the future of the “Silent Sam” Confederate monument, which was toppled by protesters last August. As students, staff and faculty continue to oppose the statue’s return to campus of UNC-Chapel Hill and rally for changes in on-campus policing, we take a by-the-numbers look back at the “after action report” on the toppling commissioned by UNC and released early this year.

On Wednesday afternoon students at UNC-Chapel Hill will leave their classes for a day of protest action at the foot of the campus’ Wilson Library. The move comes after what students say has been months of antagonism and brutality from police toward anti-racist protesters while white supremacist and neo-Confederate groups have been shown deference – even when carrying guns on campus.