Holden Thorp
I was a bit of a doubter
when Holden Thorp was first appointed to be the UNC Chancellor, but he
has turned out to be the best thing to happen to South Building in
decades. I’ve been surprised to see some of my friends blaming Thorp for
UNC’s athletics scandal and acting as if staff abuse of med air flights
was a capital crime.
Thorp clearly seems guilty of trusting Matt Kupec too much, and
allowing him to waste taxpayer dollars. But Thorp is also a tremendously
thoughtful and effective leader of this hugely complex academic
institution. One stupid screw-up wasting money does not outweigh the
great job he has done for many thousands of students, for Orange County,
and for the state of North Carolina. In fact, I think he’s due a lot of
credit for the badly-needed daylight that’s been shed on UNC athletics.
The Chancellor’s position has become untenable now because of athletic boosters and anti-intellectuals like Art Pope
pounding the drums of “scandal.” These people are not concerned with
the quality of education available to North Carolinians. Of course the
Kupec/Hansbrough thing was a big mistake, but it doesn’t make Thorp
unfit to do all the many things required of a good university
chancellor. Let’s don’t blame Thorp for having to clean up the mess left
by decades of athletic corruption and mismanagement.
From the Chair of the UNC Employee Forum
Dear Staff Member:
The
Employee Forum, in conjunction with the Faculty Council and Student
Government, encourages you to attend a peaceful assembly in support of
Chancellor Holden Thorp
on Friday, September 21st from
11:30-12:30 pm in front of South Building. We would like to get as
huge a crowd as possible during this hour, so please take your lunch
period and join us.
The
Forum’s Executive Committee has drafted a statement in support of our
Chancellor (attached). The faculty and students are doing the same.
Petitions are being
drafted that you will be able to sign on Friday, with room for you to
also leave a message to the Chancellor and our University system
leaders. The petitions will be available from 10 until 5 and will be
located in the Pit, in front of Wilson Library, and
in front of South Building.
This meeting does not count as work time, so please use your lunch time or personal leave to attend.
Thanks,
Jackie Overton, Chair
Employee Forum
Date:
Friday, September 21, 2012 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Location:
UNC South Building (outside the front entrance)
If you are interested in the Downtown "Riddle," you must read the May/June edition of the Chapel Hill Magazine. On page 56, there is an interview with Fayetteville's own Joe Riddle, the well-known owner of some of our empty Franklin St. property.
In the "Letter from the publisher," Dan Shannon says the interview is "a lively mixture of raw honesty, combativeness, disingenuousness and skepticism." The wary Riddle doesn't treat reporter Lisa Rossi with much respect and obviously doesn't believe that any interview will do him justice.
![[Chancellor & friends, photo by John Rees]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3245540186_0e5d335588_m.jpg)
Here are some photos I took on my visit today to Maple View
Dairy in rural Orange County. They were hosting a celebration to thank UNC Chancellor
Holden Thorp for halting the process for the airport. Mr. Thorp was there having an ice cream as
well as many of the key parties that worked so hard to oppose the airport.
I was told later by someone that Chancellor Thorp is a regular
visitor to Maple View already, but I did not know if that was shared in confidence
so I will not divulge the source. :-)
As reported in the N & O one hour ago:
The university may halt its plans to build an airport in Orange County.
Chancellor
Holden Thorp plans a press conference at 11 a.m. this morning to
announce a "change" in the plans for an airport authority in Orange
County. Thorp had announced in September that UNC would convene the
authority early this year.
Orange County Commissioner Mike Nelson said the university would not be pursuing an airport in the county.
"They are not going to establish an airport authority at this time,"
Nelson said. "They're going to back off and focus on other priorities."
- N&O: UNC airport may not get off the ground, 1/9/09
If this is true, I will be very pleased and will also be very very impressed with Chancellor Thorp. It's easy to SAY the things we like to hear, but harder to really do the right thing, especially with the UNC/BOT/legislative/AOPA machine pushing against you.
We'll know more soon...
I was struck by the circular logic displayed by UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp in his Chapel Hill News interview. To me, (and I admit having researched the issue and made my mind up about it) the notion of taking land by eminent domain, tearing up the countryside and spending 40-50 million of my tax money is just not justified by a dodgy economic "working paper" and Thorp saying "It's better for us to have a regional airport".
CHN: If RDU was acceptable then and it's acceptable in the interim,
what difference does it make whether you take 35 minutes to get to an
airport or 25 minutes to get to an airport.Thorp: Because we can develop our own operations.
They used to have this in Memorial Hall when I was a a student. Via e-mail:
Sunday, October 123:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Polk Place, UNC Campus
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will install Dr. Holden Thorp as its 10th chancellor on University Day, Oct. 12, the birthday of the nation's oldest state university. Thorp will give an installation address, and the University will honor distinguished alumni during a festive ceremony steeped in campus history. If rain is forecast, an official announcement will be made in advance about moving the ceremony to the Dean E. Smith Center. For more information, visit www.unc.edu/installation/, call 919-962-4463 or e-mail [email protected].
Date:
Sunday, October 12, 2008 - 11:00am
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