TO THE EDITOR:
I was a doubter when Holden Thorp was first appointed to be chancellor, but he has turned out to be the best thing to happen to South Building in decades.
I was surprised to see some of my friends blaming Thorp for UNC’s athletics scandal.
Thorp clearly seems guilty of trusting Matt Kupec too much and allowing him to waste taxpayer dollars. But Thorp is also a tremendously thoughtful and effective leader of this hugely complex academic institution.
One stupid screw up wasting money does not outweigh the great job he has done for many thousands of students, for Orange County and for the state of North Carolina.
In fact, I think he’s due some credit for a lot of the overdue daylight that’s been shed on UNC athletics.
The chancellor’s position has become untenable now because of athletic boosters and anti-intellectuals, such as Art Pope, pounding the drums of “scandal.” These people are not concerned with the quality of education available to North Carolinians.
Of course the Kupec/Tami Hansbrough thing was a big mistake, but it doesn’t make Thorp unfit to do the many things required of a good university chancellor.
With Pope stacking the UNC-system Board of Governors with his Republican pals and getting himself appointed to a new panel on the future of the UNC system, I’m afraid the next chancellor will be someone that doesn’t care about Chapel Hill and does whatever the Rams Club wants.
