Friday marked the final day for UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, as he leaves Chapel Hill to assume the presidency at Michigan State.
After rumors of Guskiewicz’s interest and lead candidacy for the role came to light in November, the Michigan State Board of Trustees formally approved the hiring of the four-year chancellor on December 8. Since then, Guskiewicz’s administration has been preparing to turn over operations to Lee Roberts, who was chosen as interim chancellor, while also preparing for the 2024 spring semester.
Guskiewicz penned an initial letter to the UNC community on the day his decision to head to East Lansing became official. But he sent one final letter to the campus community on Monday, January 8 as the university was preparing for its first week of classes.
In the letter, Guskiewicz described himself as “filled with awe and excitement for the promise” of Carolina as he moves on from a university where he’s spent 28 combined years as a faculty member, center director, dean and chancellor. He said the word he’d choose to describe his time with UNC is “gratitude.”
“I am so grateful to every person who has been on this journey with me and my family,” Guskiewicz continued. “Thank you to our staff for your dedication, passion and perseverance through some of the toughest challenges we’ve faced in decades. Thank you to our students for your curiosity, your creativity, your humor and your shouts of ‘Kevin G!’ from across the quad. I am so grateful for our world-class faculty, who change the lives of our students and have been like family for so many years. Thank you to our donors and alumni who support our University’s promise. Finally, thank you to the people of North Carolina for your unwavering investment in the nation’s first public university. It will never be forgotten.”
Tar Heels, it has been an honor and a privilege to be your chancellor. As you begin this semester, I want to say thank you and encourage you as you continue your important work in teaching, learning, and growing as a community in service to our state. https://t.co/phP7Lt7il6
— Kevin Guskiewicz (@KevinGuskiewicz) January 8, 2024
Roberts will move into the interim chancellorship after serving on the UNC Board of Governors since 2021. His background is primarily in finance, as he’s a managing partner and founder of the private investment firm SharpVue Capital in Raleigh. Prior to that, Roberts worked as North Carolina’s budget director as part of Governor Pat McCrory’s administration, and held positions with Morgan Stanley and Piedmont Community Bank Holdings.
With Roberts being named to the interim role on December 15, Guskiewicz said he’s had time to work on a transition plan with his successor leading up to Friday — which is Roberts’ first day.
“I’ve had great conversations with Interim Chancellor Roberts during the past few weeks,” he wrote. “I hope you will welcome him and work alongside him for the benefit of our great University. I can’t wait to see what you, our faculty, students and staff, continue to accomplish together.”
In his own letter to the UNC community on Friday, Roberts thanked Guskiewicz for the “warm welcome” he’s been given as he assumes the chancellorship.
“I made the decision to come to North Carolina many years ago because I believe the future belongs to this state,” Roberts wrote, “a place that’s growing, thriving and welcoming newcomers from across the world while holding onto its best traditions. Carolina is at the heart of that story, welcoming talented students from every walk of life and readying them for the challenges ahead.”
Although he’s leaving mid-semester, Guskiewicz made note to the Class of 2024 in the farewell letter. He pointed to the challenges those students faced in their initial years at Carolina with remote learning and upheaval to the campus experience due to COVID-19, saying he plans to watch their commencement ceremony in May to celebrate their accomplishments.
“As you go out into the world,” Guskiewicz wrote to the UNC students, “I know that while you will accomplish great things, you will miss our campus and the spirit of our community. Yet you’re not alone. There are Tar Heels everywhere and I’ve had several of them from the state of Michigan already reaching out to me in my new chapter. So despite the mixed emotions I have in saying goodbye for now, I know that the Tar Heel love will show up often wherever I go….and in East Lansing for certain. It will show up for you, too.”
To read the full letter from Guskiewicz, visit the university’s website.
Photo via Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill.
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