Former NC governor: Maybe progressivism, not progress, is being rolled back at UNC | Opinion
Editor’s note: The writer is a former N.C. governor responding to “Progress is being rolled back at UNC, other universities,” (Dec. 27 Opinion):
All my adult life I have been a Republican. At the peak of my political career, I was considered a fairly clear conservative voice and a party builder. Now, I can’t keep up with the thinking of today’s fire-breathing right-wingers, who dispose of the likes of me as “Republican in Name Only” (RINO). I’m OK with that, for at least I don’t get mixed up with the MAGA wing.
But I must confess to reading your liberal Charlotte Observer and News & Observer opinion content, especially from my progressive friend Issac Bailey. I know Bailey to be fair-minded and tolerant of some wrong ideas of us conservatives. Bailey is among those whose well-crafted opinions can help any conservative understand the challenge of thoughtful debate. He might even enjoy a modest correction here.
Like, where did he get his message in his Dec. 27 column about UNC System Board of Governors member Lee Roberts being appointed interim chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill? The headline said, “Progress is being rolled back at UNC...” The headline could have been, “Progressivism is being rolled back.”
Bailey’s op-ed glowed with the aura of partisan excess. What he scorns is the audacity of Republicans who think the University system belongs to us all. It was OK when Democrats (whether conservative or progressive) ran North Carolina’s entire system of public universities for more than a hundred years, with only token input from Republicans and other unwelcome minorities. Should that bias continue to exclude Republicans from academic leadership?
My friend knows better than that. He imagines that no one should be chosen who didn’t come up through the faculty or administrative ranks. It’s just inconvenient for Republicans if they have not been favored for advancement within any Democratic regime.
Should we wait until a few conservative faculty and administrators can pass a DEI pledge despite its intended thought control, in hope that maybe one might qualify? No wonder some faculty furiously oppose Republican attempts to introduce a small degree of ideological balance to the curriculum.
Was it not enough that Interim Chancellor Roberts had served as North Carolina’s state budget director? That would seem almost as valuable for understanding UNC finances as Bill McCoy’s few years as vice president for finance before he was named Interim chancellor in 1999. Great choice, too!
As for the curious idea of excluding those with government or business backgrounds from university leadership, where does that come from? Was former Gov. Terry Sanford a good president of Duke University? I would say so, even though we didn’t agree on much.
How about my friend Judge Tom Ross? Before he was president of the University of North Carolina, was he a good president of Davidson College? I believe he truly was.
What about former UNC presidents Dick Spangler and Erskine Bowles, or former Gov. Bob Scott as president of the North Carolina Community College System?
Outstanding — one and all.
Their limited prior academic careers did not disqualify them. Nor should that have deprived UNC of their leadership. I suggest maybe other credentials and competencies were needed then — as now.
Jim Martin is a former member of Congress (1973-84) and was governor of North Carolina from 1985-1993.
