Carolina Journal’s Kari Travis reports:
Allies of UNC System Board of Governors Chairman Harry Smith are trying to silence a critic on the board, Carolina Journal has learned. Board member Tom Fetzer is lining up votes to introduce an official resolution of censure against Steve Long, a board member at odds with Smith.
The censure vote would take place during the Board of Governors’ meeting later this week at Appalachian State University in Boone.
Carolina Journal phoned and emailed Fetzer for comment. He refused to address the topic, instead asking CJ to reveal our sources. CJ also reached out to the UNC System, but officials declined to comment.
These moves come on the heels of several unflattering media reports about the board’s governance and its handling of several high-profile disputes, including the Silent Sam protestsat UNC Chapel Hill which led to the resignation of Chancellor Carol Folt; the abrupt departureof former UNC System President Margaret Spellings; and this week’s announcement by ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton that he would resign after what he called several months of discussions he didn’t initiate.
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