UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz shared a message with the campus community Thursday to clarify the university’s role in the 2019 negotiations that led to a settlement over the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam.
Following new information revealed in a settlement between the UNC System and DTH Media Corp., a renewed interest in the Chapel Hill university’s role in negotiations between the University of North Carolina system and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a pro-Confederate organization. The two parties settled a lawsuit in 2019 over the future of Silent Sam, which saw the university system give possession of the monument and a $2.5 million trust to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, or SCV.
In a recent statement detailing the timeline and elements of negotiations, the university system revealed UNC Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Clayton Somers, a member of the university’s administration, was present with both UNC System and SCV lawyers in November 2019 when terms of the settlement were finalized. UNC-Chapel Hill was not listed as a party in the settlement.
While acting as interim chancellor in December 2019, Guskiewicz spoke to the university’s Faculty Council and said UNC administrative leadership was not consulted or asked to approve the settlement’s terms.
On Thursday, Guskiewicz addressed the 2019 settlement again, detailing how the UNC System assumed full responsibility for the monument’s future after rejecting proposed plans from the university administration at the time.
“Shortly after,” the chancellor wrote, “members of the BOG requested Clayton Somers, our Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs, to work directly with them on their efforts to find a solution. Once I became interim chancellor and while Clayton was on this assignment for members of the BOG, he provided me with general broad updates regarding the progress of this project.”
Guskiewicz said Somers described the initial discussions between UNC System as involving potential legislative actions before landing on a solution later in the year.
“During the fall of 2019,” wrote Guskiewicz, “I understood discussions were shifting toward the potential for a resolution that could result in the permanent removal of the monument from our campus. While I did not participate in the negotiations regarding any settlement, as I have previously stated, I was aware discussions were occurring through the UNC System, and I learned that the specific terms of the settlement were nearing completion shortly before Thanksgiving.”
When selected as interim chancellor amid continuing discussions of Silent Sam’s future, Guskiewicz said he supported the monument remaining away from UNC’s campus. On Thursday, the chancellor reiterated that stance and said he understood the system’s Board of Governors’ authority to find a solution out of concern of the statue returning to its spot at McCorkle Place. He also restated how he expressed both community and personal concerns about the terms of the settlement in December 2019.
UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz receives a standing ovation after being introduced in the permanent role in December 2019. At his introduction, he pledged to start several initiatives to address the university’s checkered past with racial injustice and oppression.
“I was grateful that the [Board of Governors] acted to accomplish our goal of keeping the monument off of our campus,” wrote Guskiewicz. “But as I said in my Dec. 11, 2019 letter to former Interim President Roper, it was clear that the settlement had many elements that were unacceptable to members of our campus community.”
After being named to the permanent chancellorship two days later, Guskiewicz announced several initiatives at the university to work to address, contextualize and move past UNC’s history with the Confederate monument and other oppressive symbolism. He created a Campus Safety Commission and the Commission on History, Race and A Way Forward, both of which are still active.
Guskiewicz said people with further questions about any university involvement should refer to the UNC System’s timeline on the settlement to learn more details.
“That document provides a full narrative detailing the facts about the deal which was accepted by both parties to that particular lawsuit and entered into the legal record,” wrote the chancellor. “That settlement is now part of our University’s history and it provides a full accounting of what transpired with respect to the settlement of the final disposition of the monument throughout 2019.”
Earlier on Thursday, the UNC chapter of the American Association of University Professors endorsed a statement calling for Guskiewicz’s resignation over the inclusion of Somers in the UNC System’s timeline of negotiations. The group of approximately 70 faculty members cited an “institutional dishonesty” and lack of transparency as its reasoning for the chancellor to step down. Guskiewicz’s message to the campus community did not address any requests for his removal.
Photo via Robert Willett.
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