Hunt Gives Speech Supporting Bond

GREENSBORO - North Carolina higher education administrators greeted Gov. Jim Hunt with a standing ovation Monday night as he spoke in support of the $3.1 billion higher education bond referendum at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro.

Introduced as the education-reform governor, Hunt addressed the needs of the public university system in his speech.

After thanking the ballroom packed with about 500 educators and teachers for their devotion to students, Hunt started pushing the bond, which will fund capital costs throughout the UNC system and the state's community colleges.

Although Hunt was largely silent on the issue as legislators debated the size of the bond package and whether it should be put to a public referendum, he stressed its importance Monday night. "This issue is on the ballot Nov. 7. It wasn't there a year ago," Hunt said. "We got here by being bold."

Hunt told the audience the public university system, which has served as a model for other state university systems, is facing a crisis.

"We need to wake up to the reality that our universities are falling behind, and we're supposed to look ahead," he said.

Audrey Bailey, community college spokeswoman, said Hunt's presence at the forum was necessary to stress that educators need to get out and talk about the bond to as many people as possible.

"To have him here shows how important this issue is," Bailey said. "We knew his words would have a stirring effect on the audience."

N.C. Agricultural and Technical University Chancellor Jim Renick, former state Gov. Bob Scott and Board of Governors Chairman Ben Ruffin also addressed the audience after Hunt concluded his speech.

Renick spoke about how university and community college systems have transformed the lives of young men and women, many of whom were the first generation of their family to attend college.

Renick said it was important for the UNC system to continue producing educated adults. "We need to be vigilant to provide these opportunities or we will have mortgaged the future of our community," Renick said.

Scott compared the university system to a sick mule he had on the farm. He said the mule got back on its feet when his boss gave the animal a dose of medicinal tonic.

"This university system just needs a good dose of tonic and this bond is going to do it," Scott said.

With the deep voice of a Southern Baptist preacher, which he is, Ruffin told the audience about a young man who could not afford outright to attend N.C. Central University.

He said a "layaway" plan allowed the young man to attend college.

Ruffin soon confessed that he was the young man and would not be where he is today without his college education.

"We're not just here to dream, drink and drift," Ruffin said. "We've got to get (voters) by the britches, as my grandma used to say, to make people understand the importance of this bond."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.