Thorp defends Davis firing in front of Board of Governors

Members of the UNC-system Board of Governors have stood by Chancellor Holden Thorp since the NCAA first announced its investigation of the University’s football program. But even the board seemed to have several questions regarding Thorp’s decision to fire head football coach Butch Davis at its monthly meeting on Thursday.

Thorp addressed the board for nearly an hour in closed session. He said he could not confirm if the discussion had to do with Davis’ firing, citing personnel matters. Athletic Director Dick Baddour was also at the meeting.

Thorp said the University would be responding to NCAA’s notice of allegations no earlier than Sept. 19 and maintained that he had no intentions of stepping down, despite many students and fans calling for his resignation.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Thorp said. “America has never needed higher education more.”

He also said Davis’ firing had not affected the new construction of Kenan Stadium.

“The financial status of Blue Zone remains strong”, he said. “People love Carolina athletics.”

Thorp’s meeting with the board comes a day after the NCAA retreat in Indianapolis, where university presidents and chancellors from across the nation, including Thorp, discussed rules about compliance and academic misconduct among student-athletes.

The meeting also comes immediately after a task force appointed by UNC-system President Thomas Ross presented recommendations calling for a greater oversight of athletic departments systemwide.

The task force, led by East Carolina University Chancellor Steve Ballard, identified practices that threaten the academic integrity of the system’s 16 institutions.

Ballard stressed that the recommendations were not based solely on NCAA’s investigation at UNC-CH.

“Two things this report is not,” he said. “It’s not an investigation of any specific campus or department. It’s not prescriptive of any particular campus.”

Some of the recommendations include a stricter admissions process for student-athletes, a more rigid compliance organizational structure and an annual review by the Board of Governors.

“We do a tremendous amounts of things right,” Ballard said. “The risk is that it only takes a few.”

Hannah Gage, chairwoman of the board, said the report was a good start.

“Is it safe to say that we are going to spend the same amount of energy and force on enforcement as we do on winning?” Gage said.

But the board is going to have to walk a tight rope in its involvement in athletics on individual campuses because according to NCAA bylaws the chancellor is responsible for monitoring the athletic departments.

Although Thorp said some of the task force’s recommendations would be implemented, he said the campus should remain ultimately responsible for oversight.

“That’s the right way to do it,” Thorp said.