Update 4:45 p.m.: Chancellor Carol Folt released a statement via email on her departure from UNC-Chapel Hill.
“While I’m disappointed by the Board of Governors’ timeline, I have truly loved my almost six years at Carolina,” Folt said. “Working with our students, faculty and staff has inspired me every day. It is their passion and dedication, and the generosity of our alumni and community, that drive this great University. I believe that Carolina’s next chancellor will be extremely fortunate, and I will always be proud to be a Tar Heel.”
Original Story:
After a closed UNC-System Board of Governors (BOG) meeting to discuss “personnel issues,” the board announced that UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt would resign effective Jan. 31, 2019.
In a statement released yesterday, Folt announced her intention to resign at the end of this academic year in May 2019, and that the Silent Sam pedestal and plaque would be removed, which happened within 24 hours.
The BOG expressed disappointment at the Chancellor’s announcement, as evident in a statement by BOG chair Harry Smith.
“We are incredibly disappointed at this intentional action,” Smith said. “It lacks transparency and it undermines and insults the Board’s goal to operate with class and dignity. We strive to ensure that the appropriate stakeholders are always involved and that we are always working in a healthy and professional manner.”
Before the official BOG vote, Folt held a media call to answer questions.
“This really was a decision I was making about my next step and the proper timing of that for the University, and when I think about the momentum and what we’ve accomplished, we’re in great shape to hire the next chancellor, and so that was really the focus of my decision,” Folt said, according to an article by the Daily Tar Heel.
UNC System Interim President Roper will appoint an interim chancellor at a time he deems appropriate, according to a BOG statement.
Savannah Putnam, UNC Chapel Hill student body president, released a statement via email regarding the BOG’s search for a new chancellor.
“We implore the BOG to search for a chancellor that puts students first, not politics,” Putnam said. “We urge the BOG to find a leader, a person who will not shy away from the problems that the University faces today. Do not do Carolina a disservice by putting someone in Folt’s place who does not recognize the most fundamental pillar upon which Carolina is founded, that students always come first.”
*Editor’s note: Statement from Carol Folt has been added.
