Chapelboro.com is re-publishing some of the top stories that impacted our community in 2019. These were stories that affected Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the rest of our local area.

In August 2018, protestors toppled the monument from its pedestal at McCorkle Place on UNC’s campus.

After a proposed plan in December 2018 to move Silent Sam to a facility on campus — estimated to cost $5 million —  was rejected, the fate of the statue has remained in limbo.

Weeks ago, the UNC System announced it had reached an agreement with the Sons of Confederate Veterans — giving the pro-Confederate group the statue and $2.5 million for a trust for expenses related to its care and preservation.

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The University of North Carolina System reached a resolution to the future of the Confederate monument known as Silent Sam on Wednesday.

A court approved a consent judgement that would give possession, rights, title and interests of the statue over to the Sons of Confederate Veterans — removing UNC as the institution possessing Silent Sam. Under the terms, the university will also fund a $2.5 million charitable trust for expenses related to the care and preservation of the monument, including potentially a facility to house and display it. The money for the trust will come from non-state funds.

The North Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans filed a lawsuit against the UNC System and its Board of Governors after the statue was removed from campus and no clear plans were determined on whether it would return. Protesters toppled the statue, which stood on UNC’s campus for decades, in 2018. Five members of the UNC Board of Governors were tasked in early 2019 to work with UNC-Chapel Hill to find a solution to the monument’s future that both complied with North Carolina laws protecting historical monuments and preserved the safety of the school’s campus.

In a release, the UNC System said the settlement prioritizes the safety and security of the UNC community and allows the school to focus once again on teaching and research.

“This resolution allows the university to move forward and focus on its core mission of educating students,” said UNC Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey.

The statue was removed from campus after its toppling in August, with its base also being removed five months later. Former UNC Chancellor Carol Folt debated over whether or not removing the statue violated a statute created by North Carolina’s General Assembly to protect monuments, memorials and parks. The statute, passed in 2015, says “objects of remembrance” can not be removed, altered or relocated without the approval of the North Carolina Historical Commission unless it is determined to pose a “threat to public safety.”

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