Turns Out Kevin Guskiewicz Is a Badass

 

On July 11, we covered the surprise, unilateral move by UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz to waive tuition and fees for any prospective North Carolina student coming from a family making less than $80,000 ("Is the UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor a Badass?"). He suddenly made that commitment hard on the heels of the Supreme Court's overturning of affirmative action, so the political defiance was pretty clear.

We predicted at the time that his shocking independence (because university rules allows him to do what he did), and the new policy itself, would mark him for ouster. The honchos of the General Assembly (Berger/Moore) don't exactly cotton to independence, and their chosen representatives on the UNC Board of Governors, not to mention Chapel Hill's own Board of Trustees, tend to follow the same path. All Republican (if not 100%, then pert nigh).

Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz being grilled
at the July 19 BOG meeting

Guskiewicz faced the music with the Board of Governors in a special called meeting on July 19 -- last Wednesday. The meeting was tense, "Daniel in the lion's den" someone remarked, and Guskiewicz faced a barage of often hostile questions about why this and why not that (read Joe Killan's extensive reporting), and he finally got a little bit fed up. It happened because "Haywood 'Woody' White, a new board member who has been critical of Guskiewicz’s announcement and the program itself, quoted Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in the case, in which Thomas said he had been struggling for 20 years to see the benefit of racial diversity."

White asked Guskiewicz whether he agreed with that statement in light of the court’s ruling. It was an uncomfortable moment for a chancellor whose university fought to keep race as a factor in admissions — but who understands political appointees to whom he answers largely oppose it.

Guskiewicz replied that as an educator with decades of classroom experience, he has seen the difference a more diverse student body makes to all students on campus and their readiness to engage with the larger world....

[He said a lot more right in here, trying to elevate the BOG's vision for diversity ... leading to this:] 

“The bottom line is a decision has been made,” Guskiewicz said. “And we will abide by that decision.”

Oh, they'll have to get rid of him now. 

Is the UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor a Bad Ass?

 

Kevin Guskiewicz

Last week Kevin Guskiewicz, the chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, unilaterally announced free tuition grants for deserving NC students whose household income falls below $80,000. He made the announcement hard on the heels of SCOTUS's decision limiting the use of race in college admissions nationwide, and he seemed to be doing it as an "up yours!" to SCOTUS. 

"Our responsibility to comply with the law does not mean we will abandon our fundamental values as a university," Guskiewicz wrote. "We are and will remain passionately public, and we will ensure that every student who earns admission to Carolina can come here and thrive."

A "passionately public" university makes sure its student body isn't just affluent, milk-white kids from suburbia, whether you count them by their skin color or their economic situations. Ballsy of Guskiewicz (who has the power and authority, by the way, to grant tuition wavers or financial aid to certain students).

Especially ballsy of Guskiewicz for making the move without first asking permission. Republican members of the Chapel Hill Board of Trustees and of the UNC Board of Governors (aren't they all Republicans, or wanna-bees?) said they were shocked -- shocked! -- when they heard the same news everyone else was hearing, that the Chapel Hill Chancellor had the balls to counter the backward-trotting Supreme Court of the United States.

I'm developing new respect for Dr. Guskiewicz. We last mentioned his name on this site when he showed up defying the ambitions of House Speaker Tim Moore. Guskiewicz now has at least two strikes against him, so of course they'll want to get rid of him.