UNC faculty chair calls emergency meeting over potential efforts to remove chancellor

UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Chair Mimi Chapman called an emergency faculty meeting Tuesday because she’s concerned that state politicians, UNC-CH trustees and UNC System Board of Governors members are moving to replace Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz.

“This would be an absolute disaster for our campus to have a change in leadership right now,” Chapman said.

The Faculty Council will hold an emergency virtual meeting on Wednesday at 3 p.m. to discuss “University administration and governance,” the university announced Tuesday evening. Some of this meeting may be held in closed session, but the public portion can be viewed online at https://youtu.be/FUpwHiITx9M.

UNC System President Peter Hans can recommend the chancellor be terminated. However, the UNC System Board of Governors has the ultimate authority to remove Guskiewicz as chancellor and can initiate that move on its own.

In a statement, Hans said the “university’s mission is teaching, research, and public service, not rumors and politics.”

“I would encourage everyone to take a deep breath, focus on that mission, and not chase conspiracy theories,” Hans said.

Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Upcoming UNC-CH trustees meeting

A new set of members of the UNC-CH Board of Trustees are meeting Wednesday and Thursday and Chapman fears they’re likely going to discuss the idea of getting rid of Guskiewicz, possibly behind closed doors. She said they could advise Hans to make that move.

UNC-CH trustees could make a recommendation to remove the chancellor or take a vote of no confidence.

Former UNC-CH Board Chair Richard Stevens said it would be “very disappointing” if it’s true that there are efforts to remove Guskiewicz.

New board leaders will be elected Wednesday.

Stevens said every chancellor has challenges and there’s a lot of pressure that comes with the chancellor job in Chapel Hill. But, his personal opinion is that Guskiewicz is doing a great job.

“I hope that he’ll be there for a long time,” Stevens said.

Chapman declined to say who informed her of the efforts to remove Guskiewicz.

One of the reasons people are upset with Guskiewicz is because he supported the hire of journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones behind the scenes and publicly expressed disappointment when she wasn’t originally given tenure, according to Chapman.



Hannah-Jones tweeted about the news of the meeting saying “I told you: It has always been bigger than me.”

Frustrations from Jones Street

NC Senate Leader Phil Berger also recently expressed frustrations with UNC-CH’s leadership, following the news of UNC-CH chief fundraiser David Routh’s recent outside work.

“It looks to me that we have a flagship that’s rudderless,” Berger told The N&O, referring to years of problems at UNC-CH.

On Wednesday, during a press conference about Critical Race Theory, The N&O asked Berger if he had confidence in Guskiewicz.

“I have questions about the many decisions that have been made at the Chapel Hill campus. It is something that is up to someone else to make decisions as to what needs to be done about that,” Berger said.

Asked again if he had confidence, Berger said:”I am not charged with the responsibility of the day to day management of any individual campus in the system, so whether I have confidence or not really has very little to do with the whole situation.”

N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore is “unaware of any such effort” to oust Guskiewicz, spokesperson Demi Dowdy said in an emailed statement.

The names Chapman said she is hearing being floated to serve as interim or to replace Guskiewicz are “political people, not academics,” she said. They are “not people who would typically be remotely considered for a chancellorship,” she said.

Guskiewicz was not available for an interview on Tuesday.

Removal ‘a threat to the well-being of our campus’

Chapman said she feels it’s her duty to let faculty know that this is brewing.

She said removing Guskiewicz as chancellor would be a “threat to the well-being of our campus,” particularly at a time when the university is also searching for a new provost.

This isn’t the first time Chapman has publicly defended Guskiewicz when he’s been under fire.

In February, a group of UNC-CH faculty members with the American Association of University Professors called for his resignation citing the lack of transparency in the Silent Sam settlement deals, decisions related to COVID-19 and disclosure of campus crime reporting violations.

At the time, Chapman said she trusted Guskiewicz and didn’t support calls for his resignation.

The UNC System also adopted new rules that give the president more power to decide who is hired as chancellor at each campus. Faculty across the system have argued against that policy change saying it was a “power grab” that diminishes the input from campus constituents.

That policy has not been in effect for any recent chancellor search. However, some students, faculty and alumni at Fayetteville State University alleged that Chancellor Darrell Allison was hand-picked by Hans and the Board of Governors.

This story was originally published July 13, 2021 at 5:16 PM with the headline "UNC faculty chair calls emergency meeting over potential efforts to remove chancellor."