UNC Board of Governors chairman stepping down

Harry Smith, chairman of the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors, announced Tuesday he is stepping down as chair, but will remain on the board.

Posted 7:10 p.m. Sep 24, 2019 — Updated 7:50 p.m. Sep 24, 2019

Travis Fain

, WRAL statehouse reporter, & Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Harry Smith, chairman of the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors, announced Tuesday he is stepping down as chair, but will remain on the board.

Smith's resignation is effective Oct. 1.

“It just takes a ton of time and effort,” he said, explaining that the politics of the job have worn him down, as well as the ongoing conflict over the "Silent Sam" Confederate statue at UNC's flagship campus in Chapel Hill.

Protesters toppled the statue in August 2018, and the Board of Governors has struggled since then to come up for a plan for what to do with it. Smith has repeatedly pushed back the deadline for a plan that would comply with a state law limiting the movement of such monuments and would satisfy students and faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill who don't want to see the statue returned to campus.

Smith also said he started a private equity business about three months ago, and he has two other businesses as well that require his attention.

“It all works on you,” he said.

Smith was appointed to the Board of Governors in 2013 and was elected chairman of the 24-member board last year. His four-year term on the board ends in 2021.

He said he's leaving now instead of serving through next July 1, when his two-year term would be up, to give whomever is hired as the new system president continuity. He said he would support current vice-chairman Randall Ramsey as his replacement.

Former President Margaret Spellings stepped down in January after less than three years on the job, which included frequent run-ins with the Board of Governors. Dr. Bill Roper, former chief executive of UNC Health Care, is serving as interim president.

"We are grateful for Harry’s service, strong leadership and selfless commitment to both the UNC system and the Board of Governors," Roper said in a statement. "I have valued his support, leadership and friendship throughout this past year and look forward to his continuing contributions on the Board of Governors."

Rumors have circulated that Smith is interested in the job of UNC president, and he said those rumors will likely get louder now.

“My heart’s not there [now]," he said. "Do I get up next week and my heart's there? Maybe.”

He said he’s humbled that many people have asked him to consider the president's job.

“I’m stepping down because it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

In addition to Spellings' departure, the board forced UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt to retire sooner than expected in January amid the Silent Sam debate, and East Carolina University Chancellor Cecil Staton was asked to resign by the board in March.

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