CHAPEL HILL, N.C. _ Faculty members at UNC-Chapel Hill are demanding a stronger response from their leaders about the decision for the university to pay $2.5 million to a group they say contains white supremacists.
They've called on interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and provost Bob Blouin to say they oppose the payment and to get answers from the UNC System Board of Governors about how and why the decision was made.
At a special meeting of the Faculty Executive Committee Monday, UNC art professor Cary Levine said Guskiewicz and Blouin are in the "unenviable position" of having to speak truth to power.
"I think (Guskiewicz) is in a situation of either having to represent us ... and speak clearly and loudly against this idea or potentially lose the good will of his own faculty and students," Levine said.
Levine and about a dozen other faculty leaders met with Blouin on Monday, following a volatile faculty council meeting Friday where faculty voted to condemn the UNC System's settlement with the N.C. Sons of Confederate Veterans. The settlement gives the group the Silent Sam Confederate statue that once stood on the Chapel Hill campus, as well as $2.5 million to preserve and display it.
At both meetings, faculty said they want answers from those who signed off on the deal, including Board of Governors members and UNC System interim President Bill Roper. They're angry not only about the decision, but that they were cut out of the process.
They plan on inviting Roper and UNC board chairman Randy Ramsey to talk to faculty about how these decisions were made, what considerations went into it and what alternatives were considered, if any.
UNC-CH DIDN'T HAVE MUCH SAY, PROVOST SAYS
Blouin said UNC campus leadership was faced with "an impossible choice" and didn't have much say in the matter as they are under the authority of the UNC System.
"If this is the best that we could do under the law, it's not perfect by any stretch, but it is a lawful option that guarantees that the monument will never come back to campus," Blouin said.
Some faculty members said the difficult position shouldn't stop Guskiewicz from telling the board and the faculty that he objects to the $2.5 million payment.
"When it comes to these kinds of situations, that's when leaders need to show what they're made of," UNC sociology professor Sherryl Kleinman said at the meeting. "I think that faculty, students and others are disappointed that a stronger statement was not made on Friday and I'm still not hearing it."
On Friday evening, faculty voted to condemn the settlement, which the Confederate heritage group's leader said will financially support their cause and help fund a new headquarters.
"Such a settlement supports white supremacist activity and therefore violates the university's mission as well as its obligations to the state," the resolution said.
INTENSE FACULTY MEETING
The faculty council meeting on Friday was intense, with some faculty holding back tears as they shared their anger and disgust with the settlement and the message it sends, particularly to students and faculty of color. A group of students interrupted the meeting with signs and shouted in protest of the decision. That was similar to the criticism from more than 200 protesters who marched through campus Thursday.
Guskiewicz fielded emotionally-charged questions from faculty members about the details of the decision, which he said UNC leaders weren't involved in. He was asked whether he thought it was a moral decision and what faculty could do to try to stop it from happening. During the meeting, Guskiewicz said he does not share the values of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans but did not denounce the settlement.
"A few faculty directly asked interim chancellor Guskiewicz if he thinks the decision to give $2.5 million dollars to the Sons of Confederate Veterans is immoral. He hedged. That should disqualify him from becoming the next chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill," Kleinman told the News & Observer following Friday's meeting.
Students, faculty and alumni have been outraged by the terms and secrecy of the settlement, with some saying it poses a threat to campus safety. Lawyers have also questioned the deal.
In a letter to the campus community, Guskiewicz acknowledged the concerns, reiterated that his goal of keeping the statue off campus was accomplished and said the work isn't done.
"The settlement ensures the monument will never return to campus, but issues of racism and injustice persist, and the University must confront them," he wrote.
SILENT SAM'S HISTORY AT UNC
Guskiewicz also said he will establish a new fund that will better support that work to improve the campus and community, but the university has not provided any details of what that will how much money will be in the fund or what it will accomplish.
When Guskiewicz became interim chancellor at UNC, he stepped directly into the Silent Sam controversy and vowed that it would not return to McCorkle Place, where it stood for more than 100 years in the heart of campus.
The statue's fate has been in flux since it was illegally torn down by protesters in August 2018. UNC leaders and members of the Board of Governors have been discussing what to do with the controversial monument that's dedicated to UNC alumni who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
With this decision, ownership of the statue is returned to those trying to honor Confederate soldiers today. Some faculty and students are still trying to stop that from happening.
Several activist groups are organizing a protest at the UNC System Board of Governors meeting Friday, Dec. 13, where they expect board members to "orchestrate their $2.5 million payout to white supremacy."
"The racist cowards at the BOG negotiated behind closed doors "settle" a lawsuit that had no legal standing and had not yet been filed," the Facebook event says. "Come out bright and early to tell the Board of Governors that their Silent Sam Sham is morally reprehensible and puts our communities at risk."
