UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz stood on a stage with a Carolina blue backdrop and university leadership all around him for his introductory press conference. With university Board of Trustee members, UNC System members and students around him, he made promises to lead the university forward into a new era as education and research continue to evolve.
“As chancellor,” Guskiewicz said, “I will shine an honest and stark light on our campus, and I will act on the challenges we face. On the other side of every challenge is an opportunity. We’ll find them and act on them.”
Many leaders on stage spoke to Guskiewicz’s authenticity, strategic thinking and commitment to the Carolina community as reasons they chose him for the permanent title after having served in the interim position for 11 months.
Anita Brown-Graham, a professor in the UNC School of Government, served on the chancellor search committee. She said the Tar Heel Bus Tour provided a key example to Guskiewicz’s investment as he interacted not just with North Carolina residents, but also with faculty members.
“What impressed me most was he didn’t just want to know more at the sites, in front of the crowds,” said Brown-Graham. “As he sat on the bus with faculty members, he grilled them on what they were doing [in their departments] and his engagement was authentic.”
Guskiewicz earned the interim chancellor position after former chancellor Carol Folt resigned in January, following her decision to remove the remaining parts of the Confederate statue known as Silent Sam from UNC campus. Tension around the statue still remains, made fresh again by the UNC System’s decision to cede the statue and create a $2.5 million trust fund for its preservation in a settlement with a pro-Confederate group.
Student Body President Ashton Martin spoke to concerns from the campus community about the settlement in her remarks ahead of Guskiewicz’s introduction. She said although the Confederate monument may be gone, the sentiments associated with it remain around campus.
“Chancellor Guskiewicz, you now bear the responsibility to make sense of this new situation and to lead us forward now that Silent Sam is gone,” she said. “In order to do this, we want you to confront UNC’s history and acknowledge the wrongs it has committed in the name of the Confederacy and furthering a racist agenda with this settlement. But most importantly, we want you to publicly denounce hate and provide actionable solutions for the minority populations who have been harmed time and time again because of this statue.”
UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz receives a standing ovation after being introduced.
Guskiewicz responded to Martin, agreeing more needs to be done to make students feel welcomed, included and safe on campus. He promised transparent leadership and announced one aspect of the university’s upcoming strategic plan that will be dedicated to addressing UNC’s history.
“I’m committing $5 million dollars to this endeavor [of building a community around diversity]. This fund will seed the History, Race and A Way Forward Commission which will include academic initiatives to strengthen our research, help us to study from our past, and help us heal from that past to move forward together as a community.”
Guskiewicz closed his remarks with strong commitments not just to the university’s current students and faculty, but to the state itself. He said the state makes the university better, which means UNC must continue to make North Carolina better. As public education continues to evolve, Guskiewicz said the university must continue to be at the forefront of any changes.
“We’re in the midst of a shift in how we teach and how we prepare our students for jobs that don’t even exist,” he said. “Education is changing and we must lead the way. Our great university must continue to identify and continue to prepare for what comes after and next. We must keep our eyes fixed on the horizon, which is what we’ve always done at Carolina and will continue to do.”
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