Tagged: Holden Thorp

It will be a busy week for the UNC Board of Governors. In addition to hiring a new chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill this Friday, the Board is trying to make its case to the legislature and avoid tens of millions of dollars in cuts. 

Including budget cuts and reversions, the Legislature has cut the UNC system’s budget by more than $1 billion in recent years.  If they take Governor Pat McCrory’s suggestion, another $140 million or so will get cut next year.   

  Holden Thorp will serve as provost at Washington University in Saint Louis after he steps down as chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Thorp announced the move in a campus-wide e-mail Monday morning.  Thorp had said he would stay at UNC to teach and conduct research in the chemistry department, but he says the new position will allow him to return to teaching and research while keeping administrative duties.

Several hundred students, faculty members and alums held a rally today at UNC-Chapel Hill in an effort to get the university's chancellor, Holden Thorp, to reconsider his decision to step down. Thorp has offered to resign in the wake of a series of athletic-related scandals at the university. Seniors Maggie Sommers and Lauren Delaunay say they attended the rally to show their respect for Thorp.

Maggie Sommers and Lauren Delaunay:

The resolution came out of a closed-door meeting of the Trustees last night. It describes the Board’s “unanimous” support for Thorp and “emphatically” requests that he reconsider his decision to resign.

Thorp announced that resignation on Monday, saying he believed it was in the best interests of the university and his family. Thorp was on the teleconference with the Trustees and has not indicated whether he will reconsider.

The resignation of UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp is drawing a variety of reactions from those on-campus and off. Thorp has been at the helm for four years. During the last two, he faced growing criticism for how he has handled a series of scandals in the football program and the African and Afro-American studies department. And then last week, the school’s top fundraiser abruptly resigned after being confronted with a number of personal trips he took at university expense.

Holden Thorp has resigned as the chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill. His four-year tenure was marked by historic budget cuts and significant accomplishments in research and student achievement. But it will likely be the three scandals that occurred on his watch that will be most prominent in his legacy.

They involved academic integrity issues in the football program and the African-American studies department. And just last week, Thorp accepted the resignation of the school’s top fundraiser for using university funds for personal travel.