January 31 marked Carol Folt’s last day as chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, bringing an end to her tenure which lasted for nearly six years for the state’s flagship public university.
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger attended Folt’s goodbye party Wednesday night where Folt was honored for all her accomplishments with the university, but Hemminger said her final act as UNC’s chancellor drew the most attention.
“Mostly we thanked her for [her] courageous act of taking down the pedestal before she left,” Hemminger said. “That’s going to help our community move forward now, a chance to heal and start and the next person coming in won’t have to go through all that.”
In January, Folt authorized the removal of the remainder of the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam from UNC’s campus. The statue was toppled by protesters in August 2018, but the base of the monument had remained at McCorkle Place and had been a gathering place for Silent Sam supporters and protesters.
The day after Folt’s announcement, nothing of Silent Sam remained at McCorkle Place.
Carrboro Mayor Lydia Lavelle, who was elected in 2013, said that her tenure as mayor has coincided with Folt’s time with UNC.
“The day I announced I was running for mayor,” Lavelle said, “was the day she was announced as chancellor and so my tenure as mayor has been hand in hand with the chancellor being Carol Folt.”
Lavelle said that Folt’s enthusiasm for her students was evident, as well as what Lavelle described as her bubbly and warm personality.
“It was really almost bittersweet to understand how much she has done as chancellor at Carolina,” Lavelle said. “From the very, very successful Carolina Covenant Program to her Arts Everywhere Initiative.”
Launched in 2003, the Carolina Covenant Program works to provide debt-free college to low-income families. The university also created the Blue Sky Scholars program in 2018, which provides financial aid for middle-income undergraduate students from North Carolina.
“I believe if you’re a low-income student or a wealthy student, there should be no difference in your opportunity,” Folt said in a 2018 interview with The Atlantic. “My entire focus has been excellence at any level of income.”
Hemminger said that, although she was disappointed at the abrupt change in UNC’s leadership, she was thankful for Folt’s work with the innovation between the town and the university and that she hopes the next chancellor will work with the Town of Chapel Hill in the same manner.
“I will say one of the things we worked really, really hard on was all of the innovation. That was a big partnership between the town, the county, the university, and she played an integral part in totally believing and putting resources and dedication to that.
“I believe that’s the future of our community together is all this innovation and creative energy that goes into all that. So we will miss her drive and enthusiasm and hope that we get someone that feels similarly with these same kinds of values.”
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