NC Gov. Josh Stein criticizes legislature for ‘politicized’ UNC System boards
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Republican legislative control has shifted university oversight, driven policy priorities
- Gov. Josh Stein warns boards have politicized universities and hindered operations
- Stein comments on UNC-Chapel Hill Trustee John Preyer resigning from board
Good morning and welcome to our Under the Dome politics newsletter. Today’s edition focuses on North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein. I’m Dawn Vaughan, The News & Observer’s Capitol bureau chief.
This past week John Preyer stepped down from the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees — news first reported by The News & Observer.
The UNC System’s governing bodies are intertwined with state politics. Preyer is a past board chair, as is former UNC-Chapel Hill trustee Dave Boliek, who is now the Republican state auditor. Current Trustee Jim Blaine is the former chief of staff to Republican Senate leader Phil Berger. The boards include current and former lobbyists, former lawmakers, and campaign donors.
The legislature appoints the Board of Governors, and trustees for individual campuses are appointed by the legislature or the Board of Governors, apart from one student member. Republicans control the legislature, and their political and policy priorities have extended to the university system.
“I think the way that the General Assembly has politicized the (UNC) System, has politicized the courts, has politicized the Board of Elections — all of this is bad. I don’t want to sugarcoat it,” Stein said. Stein’s and future governors’ power to appoint a majority of members on the State Board of Elections was removed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly in late 2024 and given to the auditor, currently Boliek.
“We are much better served when the university Board of Governors and the UNC individual school system Board of Trustees see their mission as embracing higher education, supporting the leadership, setting broad policy, and then letting the president, letting the chancellors do their jobs. That’s why we hired them,” Stein told reporters during an unrelated news conference.
“I think there’s been much too much intervention by the boards of trustees, the Board of Governors. And to the operations of our universities, that is absolutely counterproductive,” he said.
More #ncpol news
- New federal law will allow more police to take down drones. Is an NC law next?
- UNC-Chapel Hill trustee John Preyer steps down from university board
- NC faces ‘short runway’ to fund Medicaid work requirements, health officials say
Thanks for reading. Be sure to listen to our Under the Dome weekly politics podcast, which posts on Tuesdays. This week, I’m joined by my Charlotte Observer colleague Mary Ramsey to talk about the upcoming state House Oversight Committee hearing focused on public safety; Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden; and the Democratic primary of Rep. Carla Cunningham.
Reach me at dvaughan@newsobserver.com or the entire politics team at dome@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published January 18, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC Gov. Josh Stein criticizes legislature for ‘politicized’ UNC System boards."
