The UNC – Chapel Hill Board of Trustees and Chancellor Carol Folt have been working since late August to determine what should happen with Silent Sam. The Confederate monument was pulled down from its pedestal on McCorkle Place by protesters on August 20.
The UNC System Board of Governors initially set a November 15 deadline for the campus to present a plan for the disposition and preservation of the monument, which had stood on the campus since 1913. But that deadline was extended last week to early December by the Board of Governors.
Folt said at Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting that the campus was grateful for the extension and that the new deadline was sufficient.
“We don’t have a final decision yet,” Folt told reporters during a break at Thursday’s meeting. “We’re still working through everything. And I think it’s just going to be more of us talking and working on it. And the plan will be developed by the time it has to be submitted.”
Folt reiterated that the campus presentation will be a recommendation to the Board of Governors. Who ultimately has authority for a final decision on the monument has been in question due to a 2015 law passed by the Republican-led General Assembly limiting the movement of objects of remembrance.
An email address was established by UNC – Chapel Hill officials to solicit feedback from the general public. Forums have also been held on campus and the administration has sought feedback from students, faculty and staff, Folt said.
The chancellor estimated the number of email submitting comment to be “in the thousands.” She said those comments have been very emotional.
“I’m pretty moved by the extent to which people really took that very seriously.”
Folt said she believes the comments are aiming to find a workable solution within the law.
“No one idea is going to satisfy everybody,” Folt said. “But people are aware of it and trying to really offer their suggestions in that context.”
Folt said the delay in submitting a recommendation to the Board of Governors is not slowing other efforts to contextualize the campus, which have been underway since 2015. Those plans include placing additional historical markers around McCorkle Place and working on the Unsung Founders memorial, dedicated to the slaves who worked to build much of the campus.
“We’ve already been in the process of pricing what the markers would be,” Folt said. “We’ve got a lot of things there. We’re already moving toward the plans to repair the Unsung Founders [memorial].
“So, those are continuing full speed.”
Since Silent Sam was torn down, there have been several rallies bringing groups with opposing views to the campus. More than two dozen individuals have been arrested over the course of those protests, most of which are still working their way through the Orange County court system.
The UNC System Board of Governors is expected to act on the recommendation it receives from the campus at its December 14 meeting.
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