The next time the UNC Board of Trustees meetings in January, the group may have new faces joining its ranks after a pair of imminent resignations.
The trustees met Wednesday and Thursday at the Carolina Inn for their bi-monthly business meetings, which were held in the immediate wake of the 2024 general election cycle — and with two of the board’s members coming off unofficial victories.
Dave Boliek earned election as North Carolina’s state auditor on Tuesday, winning more than 49 percent of the vote as the Republican candidate to beat Democratic candidate Jessica Holmes. Boliek is one of the more senior members on UNC’s Board of Trustees, having first been appointed in 2019 and served as the body’s chair for two years. Additionally, in the state treasurer race, Republican candidate and UNC Trustee Brad Briner defeated Democrat Wesley Harris to earn his first position in elected office.
Soon, the pair will need to formally resign from the Board of Trustees in order to be sworn into those state-level roles by Jan. 1 – as the board’s bylaws prohibit anyone who is an active officer or employee of the state government from serving as a trustee.
After sharing his committee report Thursday, Boliek addressed Chair John Preyer and UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts, thanking them for their leadership and for their partnership during his time as a trustee.
“I think we were able to accomplish a lot in the last five-and-a-half years on this board,” said Boliek. “We didn’t always agree on everything, but we’re all – I believe – really good friends and I love this university. I want to thank this university community as well.”
“While his leaving this board is bittersweet,” Preyer said of Boliek, “I’m very happy for him because I know how hard he worked – as well as how hard he worked a lot of us here today in his campaign.
“And the same goes for Brad,” added the Chair, “who started out his investment career working at the UNC Management Company and is probably the most qualified person to ever serve as state treasurer.”
Roberts, who began working directly with the board after being named interim chancellor in January, echoed congratulations to Boliek and Briner.
“Our loss is the state’s gain and, I think, continues our long, 230-year tradition of service to the state,” he said.
While most of the 15-person board is appointed by the UNC System’s Board of Governors, there are six appointees reserved for the North Carolina House and Senate Leaders. Briner is an appointee of Sen. Phil Berger, who will get to choose a replacement to round out the remaining two years on Briner’s term. Boliek’s term also runs through 2027, and his appointment will be selected by the Board of Governors.
There was little other mention of Tuesday’s election results during Thursday’s open session – although, during her own comments to the board, UNC Student Body President Jaleah Taylor restated her commitment to addressing any campus tensions. She cited improving connections between student leaders to administrators and holding more public forums on complicated university operations as achievements through her administration – and ways to lessen division.
“It’s no secret that both the national and campus climate have felt increasingly polarizing,” said Taylor, “but in order for our campus community to come together, we must continue to ensure there is open dialogue. So, I’m hopefully that all groups involved can come together to find solutions because…they already have.”
Other highlights from the full board session included the announcement of Dr. Shelley Earp as the winter commencement speaker for UNC, updates on how the university community is helping with Hurricane Helene relief, the approval of tenure to seven educators, and a brief address to the board by Brandwein’s Bagels founder and UNC alumnus Alex Brandwein.
Meanwhile, the North Carolina Board of Elections will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 26, to certify the election results — including Boliek and Briner’s races for Council of State positions.
To watch the full board meeting from Thursday morning, visit UNC’s YouTube channel. A video of Wednesday’s committee meetings can be watched here.
Featured photos via Jon Gardiner, Johnny Andrews and UNC-Chapel Hill.
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