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On April 4, The News & Observer published a letter to the editor from Board of Trustees Chair W. Lowry Caudill and an article that quoted Chancellor Carol L. Folt. The full text of both University communications follows:

 

W. Lowry Caudill: UNC board meeting a positive experience

The News & Observer

Your March 30 editorial “Worker-athletes” on the recent UNC Board of Trustees meeting misrepresented the meeting’s content and purpose and unfairly characterized the student-athletes’ presentations.

 

The UNC Board of Trustees has adopted four goals this year to focus our work and to advance the university as one of the nation’s premier academic institutions. To that end, the board invites students and others to present at every meeting.

 

This year students spoke about an award-winning campaign for NASCAR, a student-organized TEDxUNC event and an innovative approach to science communication. Last week we heard how Kenan-Flagler Business School students are working with the N.C. School of the Arts to bring a regional sound stage to life. And Dr. Peter Mucha discussed the new Applied Physical Sciences department, a vehicle for application-driven research, which will impact North Carolina’s economy.

 

In the final presentation, six UNC-Chapel Hill student-athletes spoke about their lives as students and athletes. They shared their perspectives about time management, leadership development, academics and community service.

 

It is unjust to diminish our student-athletes’ voices and real experiences by suggesting that their presence and comments were in response to media pressure.

 

As Chair of the Board of Trustees, I applaud Chancellor Carol Folt, Provost Jim Dean and the administration. They continue to take bold steps on meaningful reform by tackling difficult issues and examining them from all sides. Their work and the efforts of our students, faculty and staff affirm that Carolina is moving in the right direction.

 

W. LOWRY CAUDILL, CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/04/03/3755753/w-lowry-caudill-unc-board-meeting.html

 

Chancellor Carol L. Folt Response to Retired Faculty Letter

I welcome the perspectives of our retired faculty, but their letter appears to ignore the efforts of many deeply committed faculty, and the real progress in terms of reforms and additional oversight that Carolina has made in just the last few years. A number of these reforms have been documented and shared with the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges, and are available publicly. And more are underway.

 

I think the letter-writers would be pleased to know that every person I have met at Carolina cares about the integrity of this wonderful University; I am encouraged daily to continue to drive reforms forward. In my first nine months as Chancellor I have seen a faculty and administration willing to accept scrutiny, seek answers and devote time and energy toward meaningful change. More than 100 faculty and administrators are serving on committees that are working on these issues, including the Student-Athlete Academic Initiative Working Group, the Faculty Executive Committee, the Faculty Athletics Committee and the Committee on Special Talent. I also see a campus filled with students who want to share their own experiences, many of them positive, and to be a part of the solution. Their voices count, too.

 

The progress we are making today is very real.

 

Thank you, Carol

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