The University of North Carolina (UNC) System Board of Governors has rejected a proposal that UNC-Chapel Hill create a $5.3 million history center where the Confederate statue ‘Silent Sam’ would permanently reside.
Dr. Carol FoltThe board of governors instead created a committee of five board members to collaborate with UNC-Chapel Hill officials to develop a new proposal for the statue by March 15, according to The News&Observer.
“We’re going to go back to the drawing board in a team-like approach and try to get it right, working together in a very healthy process,” said Harry Smith, chairman of the board. “The goal, again, is simply to do the right thing.”
UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor Dr. Carol Folt said that she is grateful for the time extension to determine a new plan for Silent Sam.
Teaching assistants at UNC threatened a “grade strike” that would impact thousands of students if the university moved forward with it’s original plans. The instructors threatened to withhold turning in grades.
“The decisions that will be made about this statue will have lasting ramifications for the university and the state,” Folt said. “The people of our university work every day to serve for the betterment of this state, and we owe it to them to get it right. Clearly it won’t be easy, but we will be continuing to work as hard as we can so that our community and our state can thrive.”
