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 January, UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor Carol Folt announced that she would step down from her position with the university.
Folt also authorized the removal of the base and commemorative plaques from the Silent Sam monument at McCorkle Place, which had remained since the statue was toppled by protesters in August 2018.
Shortly after, the UNC Board of Governors voted to accept Folt’s resignation on an accelerated timeline and her last day with the university was January 31. On July 1, Folt assumed the role of President at the University of Southern California.
Folt spoke with WCHL about her decision to step down. Read our January 16 story from our conversation with her:
UNC – Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt came back from the holidays knowing she was ready to make two decisions that she describes as separate but will be forever intertwined. She would be moving on from her role as chancellor, which she has held since 2013. And she would order the removal of the remaining pedestal of the Confederate monument on the campus known as Silent Sam.
Folt spoke exclusively with WCHL on Tuesday after making the surprise announcements in a message to the campus community at 5 p.m. Monday. The UNC System Board of Governors voted, after this interview was conducted, to accept Folt’s resignation on an accelerated timeline. Rather than allowing her to finish out the semester, as Folt planned. The board said the resignation is now effective January 31.
Folt said she spent the holidays talking with her family about her role as chancellor in running the university, interacting with students and ushering the university through its largest ever fundraising campaign.
“And I felt pretty certain that I needed to make that decision,” Folt said on Tuesday. “That I decided that 2019 was the time for me to move to my next. And that I thought that with all the momentum going here, it would be excellent for the new chancellor.”
Carol Folt beginning her remarks: "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."
— WCHL & Chapelboro (@WCHLChapelboro) January 31, 2019
For the second decision, to remove the remnants of Silent Sam, Folt said it came down to public safety.
“Over the holiday, it was a chance – when we weren’t having the issues of safety so directly – for all of us to think about it,” the chancellor said. “I had the report from the safety panel that led us to understand fully the real risks and stresses to a campus that is under constant threat of disruption.”
Folt and the UNC – Chapel Hill Board of Trustees brought a recommendation forward to the UNC System Board of Governors in December for the construction of a new $5 million facility to house the monument and allow for exhibit and teaching space. The Board of Governors rejected that proposal and assigned five members to work with the campus to bring a new plan to the board in mid-March.
Folt said on Tuesday that removing the monument was the right move for the campus and might open new options for the Board of Governors to consider.
“I think it will be very helpful for the campus,” Folt said. “Because I think now the campus can feel safer, we can go about the business of this university – which is very important – and it does give probably more space for the Board of Governors as they go through their own deliberations about what they believe should take place.”
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