Chancellor encourages engagement at Tea Talks

Chancellor Carol Folt said she does not know UNC very well yet — but it does not stop her from being optimistic about the administration’s relationship with students.

“I have a pretty good idea about how we interact with students and how we seek input,” she said Tuesday at a Tea Talk, a monthly discussion funded by a Hillel International Ask Big Questions grant.

Folt was joined by Student Body President Christy Lambden and Chairman of the Faculty Assembly Stephen Leonard.

The three spoke to small groups of students on how to more effectively voice their opinions about University policies and issues important to them.

Folt said she knows students want to speak out about issues they are passionate about, and she is making an effort to hear them.

“I’m actually really hoping to go to a lot of student groups as we start to think about the future and strategize,” Folt said.

Folt said she has also suggested having one student-led presentation at every UNC Board of Trustees meeting.

Leonard said many issues students are concerned with, such as tuition, go beyond UNC administrative control and are instead the responsibility of the UNC Board of Governors, which makes decisions for the 17 UNC-system schools.

“There is some attempt to strain (UNC’s) autonomy to a certain extent,” he said.

The UNC Board of Governors banned gender-neutral housing at UNC-CH this summer after it passed the University’s Board of Trustees with broad student and administrative support.

Leonard said it is important for students to pay attention to things on the state level as well as on campus.

He said UNC-Pembroke is considering faculty and program cuts as a result of budget reductions, which should concern UNC-CH students.

“The reason you should care about UNC-Pembroke is because the things that effected those changes are the same things that could effect change here at UNC-Chapel Hill,” he said.

Sophomore Jerome Allen said he was concerned that student-led advocacy groups were being cut down, and said he wasn’t sure that the discussion with Folt resolved his concerns.

Allen said he wanted to hear more about plans of action to respond to student worries.

“I was happy to hear that the chancellor was very open-minded to hearing the conversation from both ends,” he said.

“At the same time, I feel it’s not going to resonate. I want to see what’s going to happen next.”

Folt said she knows there are many students across campus with a variety of concerns, but they can’t all be addressed immediately. She said even if an issue is halted for now, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have merit.

“It’s about developing a culture where it’s OK to keep trying,” Folt said. “We don’t want to become turtles and go into our shell.”

Lambden said he tries to advocate for student interests on the Board of Trustees, but it is difficult with 12 other people on the committee.

“Your power comes from the ability to be persuasive,” he said.

Sophomore Diana Dayal said despite the bureaucratic obstacles UNC students face, she is encouraged because of the conversations she had with Lambden, Leonard and Folt.

“I don’t think it’s just a bunch of closed doors,” she said.

“I think we’re not opening them.”

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