The petition, drafted by Kylah Guion, a 20-year-old political science student at N.C. A&T State University, lists demands to the UNC System regarding the suspension of in-person instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The petition has garnered over 22,000 signatures.
According to a press release from the UNC system — the statewide body that governs all 16 public universities in North Carolina — students will be refunded for unused housing and dining services due to COVID-19-related campus closures.
The UNC System's now-infamous settlement with the North Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans Inc. was struck down last month after a swarm of public scrutiny and legal challenges. The reversal by Orange County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour returned possession of Silent Sam to the state's higher-education authority, but a $2.5 million trust of UNC's money that the System forfeited in that deal may not be coming back in full. More than $80,000 of those funds in total are set to pay the Confederate group's lawyer and the attorneys involved in operating the trust after its creation. However, a new legal challenge by UNC students and faculty seeks to change that.
The Board of Governors met by conference call in a special session Friday to discuss the UNC System's response to COVID-19.
UNC System Board of Governors Chairperson Randy Ramsey said Silent Sam will be secured away from UNC's campus at a meeting Friday.
A group of alumni plans to submit an amicus brief to the Orange County court system by Wednesday. Some of those involved would like to see the money from the settlement returned to the University in full, and the monument destroyed as a public safety hazard.
The UNC-System Board of Governors met Friday and passed a resolution addressing the General Assembly's budget impasse.
During a UNC Board of Governors' meeting on Thursday, committee members grappled with two pending legal cases against the University.
"It was like an out-of-body experience," Lindsey Jefferies said when she first helped fly a plane during her time in her high school's JROTC.
Students who have benefitted from DACA are now facing uncertainty as a decision on the program's future rests in the hands of the Supreme Court. At the same time, colleges and universities across North Carolina are teetering the line between protecting students and complying with the law in a state that allows local law enforcement to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and prohibits sanctuary cities. While several schools have declared themselves sanctuary campuses, others are relying on student activism. No matter what the method is, they say they're trying to help DACA recipients carry the weight.
In a flurry of signatures and stamps, the Silent Sam deal was pushed through the system, going from a lawsuit to a signed judgement in under 10 minutes. The judge that signed off on it has been overruled at least twice in the past on decisions he made in favor of the University.
The North Carolina Attorney General's office said the Silent Sam settlement's $2.5 million trust gives "excessive" funds to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and that the Department of Justice was sidelined in the agreement. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law also wrote a letter questioning various aspects of the settlement.
Details are still scarce on the Silent Sam deal. Kevin Guskiewicz is assuming the chancellor's office in a moment where system leaders and attorneys are getting on the same page about the settlement that's caused an uproar on campus. The DTH looked into the deal.
Multiple current member of the North Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans Inc. spoke to The Daily Tar Heel in the aftermath of the Confederate group's secretive settlement with the UNC System, which accrued it ownership of Silent Sam and $2.5 million in UNC System money. The members expressed desires to squash the deal and give the money back. They alleged financial impropriety and extortion among SCV leadership, referenced intermingling with gangs and hate groups, and described threats and slurs that have been issued toward members who raise questions.
The General Assembly turned majority-Republican in 2010, and with it the Board of Governors experienced a significant turnover in membership.
The FUTURE Act, a bill that gives $255 million to historically Black colleges and universities, expired in September. Now, the Senate has blocked efforts to renew it.
UNC has given the Silent Sam statue to the Sons of Confederate Veterans and established a $2.5 million trust fund for it, but many questions surrounding the secretive decision remain unanswered. When the UNC System announced the settlement agreement on Wednesday, many wondered how the decision came to be and where the money for the trust would come from.
After UNC-Charlotte's associate vice chancellor for safety and security, John Bogdan, was accused of overlooking human rights violations during his tenure at Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, activists are listing their demands for future hirings.
As the UNC System searches for a president and UNC searches for a chancellor, the prospect of a having a leader from the corporate world adds to the existing conversation among some faculty about the corporatization of higher education. Corporatization at colleges refers to the infusion of corporate values into higher education, and many faculty members see it as an issue because of its effects on shared governance between faculty and administrators. Here is why some think corporate values in higher education is a positive thing, and some fear their influence.
There are mixed responses throughout the UNC community about the possibility of N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore running for UNC-system president.
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