TO THE EDITOR:
We, the Concerned Faculty and Friends of UNC, have made a commitment to the University of North Carolina, through our teaching, research, service, attendance or other work done on one or more of its 17 campuses.
We treasure the University’s commitment to the welfare of the state and its people and its core mission, including its obligation to discover, create, transmit and apply knowledge to address the needs of individuals and society.
We have held the University’s integrity and commitment to excellence in the highest regard and have worked to maintain it.
We agree with our state’s founders, who stated in 1787 that “knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.”
We likewise believe in the role of higher education, as embedded in our state’s founding documents: “In all well-regulated governments it is the indispensable duty of every legislature to consult the happiness of a rising generation, and endeavor to fit them for an honorable discharge of the social duties of life by paying the strictest attention to their education.”
North Carolina’s system of public higher education has been the envy of others around the country and around the world. It is a precious asset that has driven the economic strength of the state and the well-being of its people for generations.
We believe that President Tom Ross has done an exemplary job in guiding the University and are deeply troubled by his summary dismissal for what appears to be no cause, or at least, no stated cause.
Recent actions by the University’s Board of Governors in dismissing Ross without reason and without consultation have led us to question whether good governance and provision of high-quality education without fear, favor or political interference continue to be the guiding lights of those charged with oversight of the University.
