UNC faculty delay vote that sought to halt controversial public discourse program

CHAPEL HILL -- The UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Council delayed a vote Friday on a resolution that aimed to “put on hold” a proposed academic program for public discourse that has caused controversy on campus.

The program in the College of Arts and Sciences has drawn sharp criticism from more than 100 faculty members who say it is being developed behind closed doors with influence from outspoken conservatives outside the UNC faculty and being funded by undisclosed donors.

The resolution proposed to delay the program’s plans until there has been a “full and public discussion about the structure and programmatic intentions of this new institution.”

UNC history professor Jay Smith, who proposed the resolution, argued that the faculty has been told so little about the program that it’s “disturbing” and there’s “a blatant departure from the longstanding AAUP and UNC principle that curriculum must come exclusively from the faculty.”

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