Q&A with Holden Thorp

The Daily Tar Heel had the first interview with Chancellor Holden Thorp after the announcement that he was stepping down.

In his South Building office Monday afternoon, Thorp spoke about his decision to leave, the trials of his job and looking into the future.

Daily Tar Heel: So you’re going back to the faculty. Chemistry?

Holden Thorp: Yes. It’s going to be awesome … I’ll probably teach some of the entrepreneurship classes. But that’ll be up to Dean (of the College of Arts and Sciences Karen) Gil and the department chair to determine what my assignment is.

DTH: Was there anything specific that pushed you over the edge? Anything to do with Matt Kupec and Tami Hansbrough’s resignations?

HT: Well, look. We’ve got a lot of different things going on, a lot of reviews going on. I need to focus to make sure that those reviews are done properly, the new policies that emerge from that are implemented, and I want to be free to focus on that rather than be worrying about any thing else.

And I also wanted to create the best opportunity for the campus to get a new chancellor, and I think that the timing is such that they’ll be able to get it done by June 30 … If I was going to make this decision, I needed to do it soon.

DTH: What kind of stress has this whole scandal put on you?

HT: It’s challenging for us. We’re gathering information, we’re trying to figure out what to do with that information.

We’re trying to figure out what we can or can’t disclose. Above all, we’re trying to make sure that whatever comes out of it is going to make the University stronger. So that’s been a grind for the last two years.

DTH: How long have you been considering this decision?

HT: It’s been a tough two years. So there have been days where I thought that being in the lab looked pretty good. (Sunday) was the day when it looked really good.

DTH: So you decided Sunday for sure?

HT: Yes. Obviously, I’ve been mulling this over, as you know.

DTH: On Friday, you met with the Board of Governors, what was that about?

HT: I went in closed session and updated them on the various things that are going on. They were appreciative of how hard it’s been for me and the work that I did.

Nothing came out of that. I think it’s been accurately reported.

DTH: So Chairman of the Board of Trustees Wade Hargrove asked you to reconsider your decision? Can you tell me about that?

HT: For the last 24 hours, the trustees have been trying to convince me not to do this.

What I’ve told them is that my family and I are getting tired and that what’s best for the University is for me to finish out the work that we need to do this year, give them a chance to get a new chancellor and for them to get somebody that doesn’t have to worry about these things to come in and decide what they’re going to do next.

DTH: Has anything been found in former Gov. Jim Martin’s review that would make you want to leave?

HT: No.

DTH: How do you hope the University can move past the scandal?

HT: Well, I think that the reforms we have in place will help us be a better and stronger University.

I think if you look at the other things we’ve accomplished, the top 10 in research rankings, up 24 percent in applications, a great year in fundraising, I’ve given raises to the faculty for the first time and doing searches, I think that’ll put the University in a good place, and it’ll be an attractive job.

DTH: What will you miss the most about being chancellor?

HT: I’ll miss going to Carolina Kickoff, and seeing the students lined up outside the Old Well, singing with the Clef (Hangers), and graduation and all of those things. But I’ll be teaching undergraduates again, so I’ll get all of that. The parts of this job that I enjoyed the most are being with the students. So I’m going to spend more time with students — and less time wearing a suit.

DTH: Is there anything that you wish you had done differently during your time as chancellor?

HT: Obviously, some of the things that caused problems, I wish we had found them sooner. In some cases, I wish we had acted on them sooner, more quickly. So I think everybody who goes through these kinds of problems probably think that when they get done.

So I wish that, but I think the steps that have led from all of that are leading to a place where the University is going to have tighter controls and be able to deal with these things better in the future. So I think Carolina will be a great University as a result of all of this.

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.