I want to talk with you about UNC. I’ve been on the faculty of the geography department for 21 years. I love UNC.

A few days ago, police removed me from the UNC Board of Governors meeting. I was in good company – faculty from Appalachian State and East Carolina University were also ejected. A student from UNC Chapel Hill and two community members stood up and spoke out as well. One-by-one SEVEN people were detained for speaking out.

Our message is simple:  Margaret Spellings’ values are wrong for North Carolina. We ask the Board of Governors to terminate Margaret Spellings’ appointment as President and start a new and transparent search for a new president.

From the Commentators‘ Archives: Raleigh Mann asks “Who is Margaret Spellings?”

Margaret Spellings’ record shows she cannot lead the UNC system. She is the embodiment of corporatization of higher education. Margaret Spellings consistently supports private OVER public interests.

When she was Secretary of Education, she could have fought to expand funding for higher education. What does her record show? Administration requests for higher education funding went down 24 percent.

Spellings’ record on protecting funding to historically Black Colleges and Universities is EVEN MORE TROUBLING. Discretionary funding requests by the administration for HBCUs went down by 36 percent, a total of 87.4 million. WE MUST DEFEND OUR STATE’S HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.

Will you stand with me on January 22 when the Board meets again in Greensboro on the campus of North Carolina A&T? I hope to see you there.

Altha Cravey

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