UNC vice chancellor for student affairs Winston Crisp is retiring later this month.

The university made that announcement late Thursday.

“After more than 26 years of service to Carolina and her students, he will more than just be missed,” UNC Chancellor Carol Folt and provost Bob Blouin wrote in the message to the campus community. “His spirit, his humor, his kindness and his deep, personal belief in our mission has touched our entire community.”

The campus leaders pointed specifically to Crisp’s impact on students.

“We’ve both walked around campus with him and felt the love our students, in fact everyone, has for him. They greet him, shake his hand and thank him for his support – no one ever forgets the first time they received that warm, heartfelt Vice Crispy smile or hug.”

Crisp joined student affairs as the assistant vice chancellor in 2005 before moving to vice chancellor in 2010.

Crisp led an effort earlier this year to convene a Mental Health Task Force, according to the university, “to assess the scope of mental health care needs for our students and provide recommendations to the administration and Board of Trustees about policies and programs related to mental health care.”

Crisp had also co-chaired the Chancellor’s Task Force on UNC – Chapel Hill History that was working to contextualize historical importance of pieces of the campus. Public records showed Crisp had been supportive of the university taking a stronger position in working to move the Confederate monument on the campus known as Silent Sam after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last fall. The statue remained in place until protesters pulled it down from its pedestal on August 20. Additional public records showed texts from Crisp seeming to support the effort to pull down the monument.

Crisp issued the following statement through the university:

“Over the past 26 years, I have been honored to have been able to work with some of the most wonderful individuals a person could know. The people who have made Carolina the special place that it is to so many have also made my time here priceless. After much reflection, I have decided that it is time for me to retire and move on to other challenges in my life. I will always cherish this place but look forward to seeing what my next phase of life has to bring.”

Christi Hurt, who has been the assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, will now serve as the interim vice chancellor for student affairs until a successor is appointed.

“While neither of us know what it will be like at Carolina without Winston by our sides, we are very happy for him and know this was a difficult decision for him to make,” Folt and Blouin wrote. “Winston will always be a part of Carolina, a true priceless gem. Please join us in thanking Winston for his steadfast leadership and commitment to Carolina — and especially for his dedication to our students — and join us in wishing him all the best in his next big adventure.”

You can read the full message from Folt and Blouin here.