University leaders or political hacks?
Published November 4, 2015
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, November 3, 2015.
The past few weeks have not opened an era of distinction for the UNC Board of Governors. Quite the contrary.
First the board furtively gathered - falsely labeling it an "emergency" meeting - to elect former U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings as its new president.
In doing so, the board took pains to avoid public scrutiny and a legislative directive to choose three finalists for the post. The board chairman promptly resigned and got out of town as fast as he could.
Then the board met again last Friday and secretly raised the salaries of a dozen of its chancellors. It was a clear violation of the state's open-meeting laws, which require that any decisions discussed in closed sessions must be ratified by a vote in a public meeting.
This is not the sort of distinguished work we should be getting from the board that's running what until now has been considered one of the finest public university systems in the country.
We hope the shoddy work we've seen in recent weeks doesn't foretell the fall of a great institution. Political hackery like this could too easily infect and devastate our university system.
