“Buckle up, everybody.”
That was the warning from former UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp to his “UNC peeps” in the wake of a stunning midterm election that dramatically shifted the balance of power in North Carolina state politics towards Democrats. Since the state legislature appoints the UNC System Board of Governors and many of the members of individual campus boards of trustees, that shift could trickle down and inform who controls public higher education.
As it stands, Republicans dominate the UNC System Board of Governors and the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees. That’s shown itself in myriad ways: the rejection of diversity, equity and inclusion measures, the embrace of a controversial civic life center, the energetic budget-cutting, the deals with the Trump administration, the continued questioning of tenure, and more…