The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has released a statement and a set of public records in response to a lawsuit accusing the university’s board of violating the state’s open meetings laws.

Chris Clemens, the university’s former executive vice chancellor and provost, filed the lawsuit in September.

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The university filed a motion in October to have the lawsuit dismissed. Clemens claims he was forced to resign in May. The September complaint alleges that the board misused closed sessions to discuss UNC athletics,including a Dec. 12 “emergency meeting” to approve the contract of new football coach Bill Belichick.

Clemens' complaint says the “perfunctory return to open session for a rubber-stamp vote demonstrates that substantive deliberations occurred in secret.”

On Monday, UNC Vice Chancellor and general counsel Paul Newton issued a statement about Clemens’ September lawsuit.

“He took this step before ever requesting the public records that his lawsuit claims were unlawfully destroyed,” Newton wrote of Clemens. “Weeks after the lawsuit was filed, Clemens’s legal counsel, David McKenzie, finally requested those records.

“The University produced records for McKenzie earlier today [Monday]. Critically, these records show that several of Clemens’s sworn statements in the Complaint are not true.”

Newton called Clemens’ lawsuit, “premature and ill-advised.” He also said the university, trustees and taxpayers would need “to bear the expense and distraction of responding to their baseless claims.”

According to Newton:

  • Clemens states under oath that [then-chairman and] Trustee [John] Preyer used electronic messages to solicit support for a vote of no confidence in him.  The records show that none of the trustees, including Preyer, said anything about a vote of no confidence.  Newton said no one who presently sits on the board of trustees has ever moved for or voted in support of such a vote through the board.
    • Clemens states under oath that the board of trustees used electronic communications to discuss removing him as provost.  The records show that none of the trustees mentioned removing Clemens as provost.  Newton said the board of trustees lacks the lawful authority to remove the provost. 
      • Clemens states under oath that Preyer stated that Clemens had “betrayed” the board of trustees by inappropriately disclosing closed session discussions to faculty and had “denigrated” trustees.  Newton said the records clearly show that Preyer said neither of these things. 

        On Monday, Clemens' attorney responded:

        “This lawsuit is vital to upholding the right of every North Carolinian to have transparency from the people who are doing North Carolina’s business,” McKenzie wrote in a text message to WRAL News. “We are eager to advance the discovery, where the evidence will speak for itself, and allow the court to resolve Dr. Clemens’ claims on their merits.”

        Newton added, “The university and its trustees will pursue every avenue to have Clemens and his counsel pay the expenses associated with defending against this meritless lawsuit.”

        Text messages released

        On Monday, the university released a series of text messages among then-chair John Preyer and 12 other trustees from March 22 to April 3.

        Preyer’s message sent to multiple board members states, “This was a brazen breach of trust by” Clemens and “I now doubt his ability to work in good faith our board.”

        The texts released by the university do not say anything about Preyer calling for a vote against Clemens.

        Previous settlement

        Clemens’ attorney, David McKenzie, sued the board for violating open meetings laws in 2024.

        The board settled that complaint, paying McKenzie $25,000 for legal fees and having the board’s then-chairman, Preyer, read a statement affirming the board’s commitment to compliance with the law at a public meeting.

        Other alleged violations of the UNC board

        The September complaint says that a November 2023 closed session included a discussion about UNC’s status in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a comparison with financial outcomes of moving to the Southeastern Conference or the Big Ten. It also highlights a May 2024 closed session meeting about conference realignment. Those discussions, the complaint alleges, belong in open session.

        “There is no statutory exemption that permits closing discussion of institutional affiliations and budget planning,” the complaint said.

        In January, UNC System President Peter Hans stripped some authority from the UNC Board of Trustees after the messy hire of Belichick. In a letter to the Preyer, Hans wrote: “Instances continue to occur where members of the board appear to act independently of their campus’s administration in matters squarely within the responsibility of the chancellor.”

        Preyer has been credited with playing a significant role in the hiring of Belichick, who signed a five-year, $50-million contract with UNC.