Could UNC soon be losing its chancellor?
The Michigan State student-run newspaper, The State News, reported on Wednesday night that two candidates were left in the university’s search for its next president: UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and University of Texas at San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy. But the paper’s sources, which were unnamed in the piece, said Eighmy had removed himself from consideration and Guskiewicz is left as the sole finalist for the job.
Guskiewicz was appointed as UNC’s chancellor in early 2019 for the interim role after Carol Folt’s simultaneous decision to resign and remove the remaining parts of the Confederate statue known as Silent Sam. Guskiewicz, who is a neuroscientist and served as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences prior to the role, was approved for the permanent position by December 2019.
Guskiewicz shared a statement through UNC Media Relations on Thursday morning addressing the Michigan State search, saying:
“I am focused on serving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a special place I have lived, worked, and loved for 28 years. I am very proud of what our university accomplishes every day as one of the best public universities in the country. Through the years, a variety of professional opportunities have been presented to me. My family and I must weigh each one, and we are weighing this one.”
UNC Media Relations said the university had no response on the State News’ reporting when reached by Chapelboro for comment on Wednesday night.
During his tenure at Carolina, Guskiewicz’s administration has overseen the university’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing removal and reckoning with symbols of white supremacy on campus, and the execution of a five-year $5 billion capital campaign. He also began or expanded initiatives to boost the university’s outreach across North Carolina, re-starting the Tar Heel Bus Tour for faculty to visit parts of the state and launching the Carolina Across 100 initiative to address major issues impacting residents.
Recently, Guskiewicz led a response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning affirmative action in college admissions with UNC as a defendant in the case. His administration is working to update its admissions processes to comply with the law, and the chancellor announced a plan for reduced tuition for North Carolina-native students in the days after the ruling.
This semester, Guskiewicz’s administration is re-evaluating campus safety protocols after a fatal shooting within a UNC lab. A graduate student was arrested and charged with the murder of his academic advisor in August, which sent its campus community into a prolonged lockdown and period of mourning within its first weeks of the fall. UNC Police Chief Brian James and Vice Chancellor of Institutional Integrity and Risk Manage George Battle — each of whom were hired under Guskiewicz’s leadership — are leading the response in assessing measure to continue improving emergency response protocols and campus safety.
Guskiewicz, who is UNC’s 12th chancellor in its 78-year history of having the position, first joined the Chapel Hill campus community in 1995. His research on brain trauma and concussion earned national recognition, including grant funding from the National Football League, and he co-directed the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related TBI Research Center while holding a distinguished professorship. Guskiewicz was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2015.
Michigan State’s presidency search comes as the university is seeking to recover from a series of sexual misconduct cases and disfunction within its board of trustees. The latest president, Samuel Stanley Jr., resigned in October 2022 and cited having “lost confidence in the action of the current Board of Trustees” after serving in the role for three years. Stanley was the third president at the school in five years, and its current interim president — Teresa Woodruff — is not seeking the permanent role according to the Associated Press.
Guskiewicz has faced turbulence from the UNC Board of Trustees and UNC System leadership at times as well. In 2021, the campus’ faculty council passed a resolution in support of the chancellor and stability at the school following rumors of Guskiewicz being forced out of the role due to his support of Nikole Hannah-Jones, who the School of Journalism and Media sought as a professor. The UNC Trustees significantly cut down her position and drew out an approval of Hannah-Jones’ tenure request before she ultimately turned it down and accepted a role at Howard University. Since then, the Board of Trustees have often publicly stated its support for Guskiewicz during its bi-monthly meetings — but have also levied criticism of the university’s stance in affirmative action ruling and its announcement of the reduced tuition plan, among other initiatives.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Photo via Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill.
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