CHAPEL HILL, N.C. _ As about 80 protesters came to Chapel Hill on Friday to protest the University of North Carolina System's $2.5 million Silent Sam settlement with the North Carolina Sons of Confederate Veterans, the system's Board of Governors _ meeting over the phone _ also sought more clarity about the deal.
Protesters gathered outside early in a cold rain, chanting "No payout! No BOG! No racist UNC!" and "Nat Turner! John Brown! Anti-racists run this town!"
Some UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty and community activists spoke out about what they called the "$2.5 million payout to white supremacy." They were not dissuaded by the fact that board members were not in Chapel Hill in person. The board opted to hold its regular monthly meeting remotely.
"We're here to say we won't let them hide their actions," said Lindsay Ayling, a UNC graduate student.
Inside the meeting room, no board members were present _ only UNC System interim President Bill Roper and UNC System General Counsel Tom Shanahan.
But the topic of the Silent Sam settlement was addressed.
Board member Marty Kotis asked about the concerns raised in a letter the board received earlier this week from Kevin Guskiewicz, the interim chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill. In the letter, Guskiewicz said his campus is struggling with the Silent Sam decision and that he's concerned about how the money might be used by the Confederate group.
After the settlement was announced late last month, the leader of the Confederate group had talked in a letter to his members about plans to build a division headquarters and to promote what Guskiewicz called "an unsupportable understanding of history that is at-odds with well-sourced, factual, and accurate accounts of responsible scholars."
Kotis said he didn't want to "armchair quarterback the settlement or the resolution" that board members agreed upon, but he asked for clarity on how the SCV could use the $2.5 million.
Shanahan replied, "It's likely something we should address in closed session."
That prompted an immediate response from the protesters, about half of whom had been allowed in the meeting room. They called Shanahan a coward.
Shanahan said a consent order entered by the judge outlines a set of limitations and restrictions that a trustee has to apply when approving the use of funds by the SCV.
"Nothing in that consent order says those funds can be used for some of the things addressed in that letter," Shanahan said.
Board member James Holmes said a document will be released that outlines the terms of the trust and specifies how the funds can be used.
"There are limited uses for these funds, and they will be defined in the agreement," Holmes said. "Period."
Board member Tom Goolsby then jumped into the conversation, saying he has similar concerns as Kotis.
Goolsby said there will be a "document dump of a lot of information" about this deal. He asked the Board of Governors and the legal team to make themselves available to answer all the questions that are being raised across the state on this issue.
"It appears to not be dying down, but revving up, and it very much concerns me as to what's been done here," Goolsby said. "I look forward to all the truth coming out in this and there being open discussion between the board and the press and the people of North Carolina as to what's happened and what's actually going on."
Randy Ramsey, the board chairman, then directed the conversation back to the board's agenda for a report from the presidential search committee. The board quickly went into closed session.
At that point, protesters left the meeting, again chanting "No payout! No BOG! No racist UNC!"
Altha Cravey, associate professor of geology at UNC, said she came out to support the student-run protest, as she has at other rallies surrounding Silent Sam.
"There are a lot of faculty that are extremely pissed off and support the students," she said.
A group of first-year medical students at UNC also attended the protest to reject the $2.5 million deal.
"I think we all share the same sentiment," Karoly Majtenyi said. "We are privileged members of society, and we want to speak up about this act."
When the meeting returned to open session, without the protesters, Roper nominated Guskiewicz for the chancellor job permanently.
The board unanimously voted to approve Guskiewicz over the phone. He then called into the meeting and said he was looking forward to working alongside this "amazing leadership team."
"I appreciate your confidence in me," Guskiewicz said.
The meeting ended quickly after that announcement, and Roper refused to answer questions from reporters.
In the two weeks since the settlement was reached, students, faculty and alumni have marched through campus condemning it, discussed the safety threat it poses, questioned its legality and held a meeting to express their outrage over the secrecy of the settlement and their disappointment with Guskiewicz for not speaking out against it.
While many are pleased the statue will not return to UNC-Chapel Hill's campus, they say they will not let this issue go.
And now, a national civil rights group is joining the fight on their behalf. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is planning to file a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, reopen the case and recover the $2.5 million.
Despite all the noise, the UNC System had remained silent until Friday.
UNC System leaders and board members involved in negotiating and approving the settlement have not responded to requests for comment or provided answers to lingering questions.
Details of the Silent Sam deal were not publicly discussed at any of the Board of Governors committee meetings Thursday.
And the brief discussion in open session of Friday's meeting offered more questions than answers.
