Trustees tackle hot topics in meeting

At the UNC Board of Trustees’ first meeting of the academic year, members did not shy away from some of the biggest topics on students’ minds.

Sexual assault, coal divestment, the GPA requirement for Greek organizations and cuts to the UNC College Republicans budget were all under discussion at the Wednesday meeting.

Members also discussed altering the policy that required fraternities and sororities to meet the University-wide GPA average this semester.

The policy, which has resulted in four Interfraternity Council chapters being punished with social suspension this year, was created in a 2011 Board of Trustees decision.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp said the administration could change the GPA requirement to a standard number each semester. He said his office received many complaints calling it unfair because the average GPA fluctuates from year to year.

“The average number is a moving number and in fact, it has been moving upward,” Crisp said.

He said the proposal could be presented to the Board of Trustees by the end of the year and would not be a major change in policy.

Some members of the board also voiced concerns about Student Congress’s recent decision to cut the UNC College Republicans’ funding request.

Brittany Best, chairwoman of the Student Congress finance committee, spoke with trustees about their concerns.

Board member Dwight Stone said he was concerned that the conservative group’s request was cut by the exact amount that would have been required to bring a speaker to campus whose credentials had been questioned by members of Student Congress.

Best said she could not speak for individual comments about the quality of a speaker, but she said the majority of Student Congress votes based on factors like the number of student groups left to request funding and the vitality of the organization.

Near the end of the presentation, Crisp came to the Student Congress members’ defense.

“These are all pertinent and relevant questions. This is something we look at from the administrative standpoint and ask these same questions,” Crisp said.

“To the question of whether there was any bias established towards College Republicans, we have been satisfied that there was not any intentional bias.”

Another board agenda item was sexual assault — the University is currently grappling with three federal investigations into its handling of sexual assault.

Crisp said Chancellor Carol Folt attended the University’s Sexual Assault Task Force meeting Wednesday morning.

The task force has been working since the beginning of the summer to deal with what Crisp called a revolution in the expectation of how universities deal with sexual assault.

“I think we have hopes that we can conclude the first stage of our work this semester,” he said.

Jan Boxill, chairwoman of the faculty, said University employees have expressed concerns about on-campus parking during the Thursday night football game in October.

She said employees were required to move their cars off campus by 5 p.m. for the most recent night game.

This time, Boxill said faculty will not be required to move their cars by a certain time, but the administration is doing everything it can to encourage employees to leave early.

“Traffic and parking loom large in the minds of many,” Boxill said.

Also in the meeting, UNC’s Sierra Student Coalition lobbied the board’s finance committee, proposing that the University create a student-administrator working group to research whether UNC could divest from coal.

The Beyond Coal initiative formed last year and works to convince the University to end its investments in coal energy.

“UNC has taken a lot of powerful steps to be a leader in sustainability in the past,” said SSC member Jasmine Ruddy.

“We need to take financial steps a step further.”

But board members said they would need more time to consider the purpose of a working group.

“You’ve done a very good job presenting one side of the argument,” said board member Steve Lerner.

Chancellor Folt said she supported the idea of a working group and including people from the energy sector in the conversation about divestment.

But she said having a working group discuss divestment at this time would be premature.

“Before you form a working group, you have to have clarity on the charge,” Folt said.

Anurag Angara, an SSC member, said the board’s response to the presentation was encouraging. The board will continue to discuss the idea of a working group.

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