Chapel Hill Mayor ‘Sad to See’ UNC Chancellor Leaving

UNC – Chapel Hill will soon have a new chancellor, and the Town of Chapel Hill is waiting to see the impact that could have on the community.

Carol Folt announced Monday that she would be stepping down as chancellor and that she had ordered the remaining base of the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam to be removed from campus.

“I’m very sad to see Carol go. She’s put a lot of good things into play at UNC,” Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said in an interview on WCHL’s The Aaron Keck Show Thursday.

Hemminger listed a passion for students, education, scholarship, accessibility and partnerships with the town among the qualities that Folt brought to the position.

“I also know she cared very deeply about getting rid of the statue and the pedestal,” the mayor said. “Kudos to her for standing up and doing the right thing even though she was pretty sure of what that outcome would be.”

After Folt announced she would be resigning at the end of the academic year, the UNC System Board of Governors accelerated that timeline to make the resignation effective at the end of January.

“It’s unfortunate that our Board of Governors feels very differently from how the community feels today. We’re grateful that she was willing to take this bold step.”

Hemminger petitioned Folt to have the monument be removed after an August 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a counterprotester was killed. Folt maintained that she would prefer the statue be moved to an off-campus location, but that she felt the university did not have that authority due to a 2015 law limiting the movement of objects of remembrance.

The statue was then toppled in August 2018 before Folt ordered the removal of the remaining base on Monday.

“It’s really helpful because there’s no longer this monument that represents white supremacy right at our doorstep,” Hemminger said. “But, also, there’s no longer a gathering point for people to rally. Our biggest concern has been that someone was going to get hurt.”

The mayor and police chief have said on several occasions in recent months that constant protests at the monument were draining town resources.

The Board of Governors is now continuing on a timeline laid out in December where a delegation of the board working with the campus is scheduled to bring a recommendation for the future of the monument forward in mid-March.

“The town’s not privy to whatever the Board of Governors is doing,” Hemminger said. “We do have good communications with our Board of Trustees, and they know our wishes; they know what our preference is.”

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