More Weirdness From Chapel Hill
How can a statue named Silent Sam cause so much fuss?
We’re still working through this whole business and we may not completely understand it so we’re reserving judgment in some ways until we do. However there are some facts which seem clear and there’s a large issue behind it all.
UNC had a confidential negotiation with the Sons Of Confederate Veterans over the final dispensation of Silent Sam, the Confederate statue which was recently torn down by activists and since hidden away by the university.
Apparently an agreement was reached which would see the university give $2.5 million - not taxpayer money according to the New York Times - to the Sons Of Confederate Veterans to take the statue.
Even more amazingly, the judge who signed off on all of this was Allan Baddour. If you don't recognize the name, his father used to be the Athletics Director at UNC.
It may not surprise you to learn that the younger Baddour is a UNC undergrad and law school grad. To us that seems like a conflict of interest but there’s a lot we don’t know.
The details are still murky and this is really just getting started. However, the cost to the university and state is likely to be quite high as well.
And it’s about time to ask this: what has happened to UNC?
The rivalry stuff is fun and we like to poke the Heels when we can, but look at how many things have gone wrong. How Silent Sam was (mis)managed, the paper classes and related scandals, the implosion the the Ethics Center due to, well, a lack of ethics, the serious problems with pediatric cardiology and the ridiculous handling of the Kenan Stadium controversy to name a few. The UNC system is vital to the health of this state and long has been. It’s hard to argue that it’s being well-managed. It appears to be a disaster on many fronts, including what appears to be yet another radioactive scandal set to explode.
We can have fun as athletic rivals but watching UNC, a proud and once great university deteriorate like this, is heartbreaking. It’s time for the state to step in and figure out what the hell is going on and get it straightened out from top to bottom..