Thursday, March 21, 2019

The UNC Board of Governors Meeting in Boone Just Got More Interesting


UNC BOG member Steve Long
Reference: BOG member Steve Long, who had the courage to call for BOG Chair Harry Smith's replacement, based on Smith's bullying yet another university chancellor into premature retirement -- ECU's Chancellor Cecil Staton.

Fellow BOG member Tom Fetzer, former chair of the NCGOP and one of Chair Smith's strongest lieutenants, has reportedly been lining up votes to formally censure Steve Long for his criticism of Chair Smith, such censure resolution to be sprung during Day Two of the BOG's meeting on the campus of AppState -- in other words, tomorrow.

Since that plan to censure Steve Long has been outed publicly, will it happen anyway, in the full glare of press coverage?

ADDENDUM
Said Thomas Harnisch, Director of State Relations and Policy Analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, “The stories coming out of North Carolina have garnered national attention. People are seeing heavy turnover in key leadership spots. That can lead to top talent not applying for those positions. Higher education is a community. People certainly talk to each other. All these transitions are piling up and taking a toll on the state’s reputation. North Carolina has gained a reputation where its Board of Governors is very political. There’s a lot of instability emanating from that board. All of the stories about in-fighting on the board, firings and resignations over the last several years, top talent sees that and may decide they don’t want to be a part of it.” (Thanks to Joe Killian, NC Policy Watch, for getting the interview with Harnisch)

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