Congratulations Thorp: Thorp has been hands-on still faces many challenges

We joined the University community in honoring Holden Thorp's official installation as UNC's 10th chancellor on the University's 215th birthday.

Thorp's tenure so far has been marked with honesty pragmatism accessibility and excitement.

And we expect nothing less from him as he moves forward to implement his vision for UNC.

In his installation address" Thorp acknowledged — and rightly so — that these are ""trying times."" But the overarching mood of his speech was optimistic.

His speech was full of  enthusiasm" desire and vision for the future to take this University to new heights. And we are excited to see the great things he can help UNC  do.

So far Thorp has been very hands-on. He's working to reach a compromise with housekeepers and recently raised the minimum staff salary.

He has been accessible to students and Daily Tar Heel reporters and seems interested in hearing feedback and concerns. And he even started a blog.

We hope that this proactive approach is something that will mark all of Thorp's tenure  especially on the very important issue of enrollment growth.

The UNC system is projected to add 80000 students within the next decade.

UNC will have to decide how much of that growth it can shoulder and also assess its educational mission in light of the enrollment challenges.

It's important for University officials especially Thorp to be cautious about this growth. And it appears that he is.

We agree with his general sentiment that it's important to be prudent in how we grow as a University and make sure that educational quality is still a major focus.

As Thorp acknowledged the path ahead will be difficult. And we hope he will be up to the challenge.