Not really. But Western’s new chancellor David Belcher does have a lot in common with James Moeser, the former top admin at Chapel Hill. Both have their doctorates in music, specializing in keyboards. Both were previously top administrators at mid-western state universities, Belcher the provost at Arkansas-Little Rock and Moeser the chancellor at Kansas. Both have spent their entire adult lives cradled in the warm, nurturing arms of public academia.

Belcher’s bio on the WCU site suggests that he will not deviate from the standard academic party line–he definitely likes making public universities bigger. The only indication of politics is that “under his leadership, the campus … earned designation as a Carnegie Community Engaged institution.” That usually means lots of nonsense like service learning.

While usually WCU doesn’t get much notice–or at least it didn’t under outgoing chancellor John Bardo, this appointment bears watching since it’s the first one on Thomas Ross’ watch. Although time will tell, it looks like he went with the safe, mainstream, politically correct choice. Uggh.