Debate over protest
Published January 29, 2016
Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, January 28, 2016.
A rude protest disrupted the start of a UNC Board of Governors meeting Tuesday and led to some arrests. That’s not how to conduct a meaningful debate about higher education in North Carolina.
Not everyone is happy with the board’s decision last October to hire Margaret Spellings as the next president of the 17-campus UNC system. Among the reasons:
- The board first dismissed Tom Ross in a move that was widely regarded as partisan. The Greensboro native is a Democrat who was selected by a board appointed by Democrats. Now the board is appointed by Republicans.
- Spellings is a Republican who’s been closely associated with former President George W. Bush for most of her career. She was his secretary of education and now directs the Bush Institute in Dallas.
- The search process was engineered by a few board leaders, possibly with Gov. Pat McCrory, and drew complaints from some of its members and legislative leaders.
- Spellings has no prior connections to North Carolina.
- Her history includes work for a for-profit university and a student-debt collection firm.
Thoughtful commentaries have been written expressing concerns about Spellings’ suitability for the post, which she’ll assume in March. Further demonstrations of opposition, or support, may occur. She will address them through her actions over the months and years ahead.
It’s a wise move that she plans to visit all 17 campuses early in her tenure to meet with faculty and student groups. She’ll have the chance to answer critics and state her priorities for UNC.
She offered a conciliatory statement in this month’s inaugural issue of The Catalyst, published by the Bush Institute: “As I prepare to re-enter the public arena in March as the President of the University of North Carolina System, I hope for two things. First, that elected officials, my fellow state employees and the faculty and staff of the universities there will know how much I admire and respect their contributions and second, that my fellow citizens will show their support for those who work on their behalf.”
In fact, building and maintaining a great public university system has won the support of North Carolinians for generations. They have been willing to provide the opportunity for higher education to the people of the state primarily at public expense — for the benefit of the state as a whole. This is why it’s critical to continue the commitment to access, affordability and excellence that has made this state stand out in public higher education.
This isn’t easy. It’s expensive to provide great facilities and competitive salaries while keeping tuition low. Yet that’s the commitment North Carolina has made. Spellings is the right leader only if she supports keeping that promise.
There’s plenty of room for debate about the future of higher education. How much teaching can be conducted off site rather than in traditional settings? Can community colleges and universities be blended more seamlessly? Should there be a larger priority placed on skills training at the expense of the liberal arts?
Spellings won’t make these decisions by herself. As she works with the Board of Governors, chancellors and other leaders, we hope they all will be guided by the principles upon which a great university system was built by and for the people of this state.
January 29, 2016 at 3:57 pm
Norm Kelly says:
In other words, more accurate words, the objections to Spellings come from closed-minded liberals who object to the fact that she's associated with a Republican president. She has private-sector experience as well. And which other person could take her place that has NC roots? So, again, no real reason to object other than political agenda.
Once again, libs PROVE, for those who still need proof, that they are bigots, political hacks first anything else second, and have no objection to libs being president of the system but definitely oppose Republican leaders. Based solely on liberal agenda talking points and agenda schemes.
Hearing no valid objection, Spellings takes office. And all those whiny, pi55 ant, close-minded libs can go suck eggs.
I'll continue to pray for all you whiners. Someday your minds will be opened. Someday your life will be presented with the real world. In the meantime, how about letting those already in the real world, with logical thinking skills, continue to operate in the real world. When you all wake up from your dreams or hallucinations, then we can talk. Until you take off your rose-colored glasses, we'll manage things for you. And do it a darn sight better than any lib is capable of doing!
