It was a day of goodbyes at today's UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees meeting. Chancellor Holden Thorp and several trustees are leaving after a tumultuous tenure.
Over the past few years, Trustees meetings have often been tense, uncomfortable, and even demoralizing for the members, as the leaders of UNC-Chapel Hill have dealt with scandals in athletics and academics. But with Thorp on his way out, Board chairman Wade Hargrove offered nothing but praise.
"I admire you for your conviction," said Hargrove. "I admire you for your commitment to principal and to the long-term interest of this University and your commitment to students, to the faculty, to the staff, and to the Board."
It was also Hargrove’s last meeting as chair of the Board of Trustees, as his term ends next month. One new bit of business was conducted today: Jim Dean, the head of UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, was announced as the University’s new provost.