After the recent controversy over Chancellor James Moeser’s move to retire the Cornelia Phillips Spencer Bell Award, past award recipients said they respect the decision but continue to value the honor’s importance.
The prestigious award, established in 1994 as part of the University’s bicentennial observance, sought to honor women who made outstanding contributions to the University — but it was laced with controversy.
The award was named after Cornelia Phillips Spencer, whose reputation as a white supremacist has recently overshadowed her efforts to reopen the University after the Civil War.
Last month, Moeser retired the award after months of debate, citing a fear that women would not accept it. Although recipients said they had no reservations when they accepted their awards, many said they understand Moeser’s reasoning.
Judith Wegner, chairwoman of the faculty, received the award in 1999. She said she accepts Moeser’s decision.
“My sense is that this is … more about the chancellor’s sense that it would be difficult for some distinguished women to accept the award because of the controversy that has been brewed around it,” she said. “In a sense, he was probably feeling that he wanted to cut that off before it made it more problematic.”
For years, little debate surfaced regarding the name of the award and whether potential recipients had reservations accepting it. But after graduate student Yonni Chapman raised concerns about Spencer’s past, the University scheduled a symposium in October to analyze Spencer’s impact on the community and the implications of the award.
Diane Kjervik, chairwoman of the selection committee and director of the Carolina Women’s Center, said that despite the controversy, the selection committee concentrated on the nominees and their contributions to the University.
“We were focused clearly on the contributions of the nominees,” she said. “We looked at their capabilities and their strengths. The protests were really directed more to the event itself and to the chancellor.”
