UNC board members question 'Silent Sam' deal
A committee of the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors may have signed off last month on paying $2.5 million to a neo-Confederate group to deal with a controversial monument, but some board members said Friday they aren't in favor of the deal.
Under an agreement approved by a judge, the Sons of Confederate Veterans agreed to take ownership of the "Silent Sam" statue, which stood for more than a century on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus before protesters toppled it in August 2018, and build a center to preserve it.
Students and faculty have denounced the deal as paying money to support white nationalism, and a civil rights group on Friday filed court papers questioning the legality of the agreement in an effort to rescind it.
The Board of Governors held its first meeting Friday since the Silent Sam deal was reached, and some members expressed concern over it.
"I understand monies have already been transferred and the statue, and I have a number of concerns," board member Thom Goolsby said. "I do hope that the Board of Governors and its legal counsel will make themselves available to answer all of 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."
"I think the red flag for everyone has been this letter that the leader of the Sons of Confederate Veterans sent that expanded and said the funds could be used for a variety of things, and I think that’s a concern for a lot of people," board member Marty Kotis said.
No board members were actually in Chapel Hill because the meeting was held via conference call. UNC officials said the teleconference was set up on Nov. 15 – before the Silent Sam deal was struck – and they defended the move, saying it was easier logistically because of the holidays and graduations at system schools this weekend.
Still, the phone meeting did not sit well with some students and faculty who protested outside the board room.
"They’re using telecommuting to avoid public accountability," graduate student Lindsay Ayling said. "If they’re not willing to show up in person to this meeting, they should reflect on that and resign their position."
Ayling and other protesters also said board members and UNC administrators need to answer questions about the Silent Sam deal and the $2.5 million payout, which already has cost UNC-Chapel Hill a $1.5 million research grant.
"They should be funding more scholarships to students who are struggling to making ends meet," Ayling said.
UNC Interim President Dr. Bill Roper was the only university leader physically present at the Friday morning meeting, but he refused to answer questions from reporters as he left at the conclusion of the call.
