UNC System President to step down according to News & Observer

<p>UNC System President Margaret Spellings takes oath at her inauguration Thursday morning. Spellings took office in March following the forced exit of Tom Ross.</p>

Gavin Stone

UNC System President Margaret Spellings takes oath at her inauguration Thursday morning. Spellings took office in March following the forced exit of Tom Ross.

Mary Dare Martin, News Editor; Alicia Thomas, Assistant News Editor

UNC System President Margaret Spellings is planning to vacate her position after only three years acting as the executive head of the 17-campus system, according to the News & Observer.

According to Triangle Business Journal, the information was confirmed by UNC Board of Governors member Doyle Parrish on Thursday. According to Parrish, he thinks Spellings has chosen to step down because of the experience she has had in North Carolina’s political climate.

In the News & Observer article, sources say that Spellings has negotiated her departure from the university system and plans to step down from her job to return to her home state of Texas as early as next year.

According to an email statement sent to Technician from Jason Tyson, the director of Media Relations for UNC System, the Board of Governors will be holding an emergency meeting tomorrow.

“The UNC Board of Governors will meet in emergency session to consider an executive personnel matter at 10 a.m., Friday, October 26, 2018 in the boardroom of the Center for School Leadership Development,” Tyson said in the email statement.

The Center for School Leadership Development is located at 140 Friday Center Drive in Chapel Hill. The statement also said that some items during the meeting may be considered in closed session under the provisions of North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law, however they will take questions from the media after the meeting.

Spellings was the former U.S. education secretary under President George W. Bush and was hired as the UNC System President in 2015. Spellings began working as the UNC President in March of 2016 under a five-year contract, which was due to expire in February 2021. Her selection was a source of student protests at board meetings for months.

After the protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, Spellings asked for more security around the controversial Silent Sam statue that stood in the middle of UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus. Spellings’ decision came under public scrutiny. The statue was torn down by protestors in August.