Column: We need more answers, BOG

The question for UNC’s Board of Governors still remains: Why did you fire UNC-system President Tom Ross out of the blue?

Board Chairman John Fennebresque has managed to not provide the public with an inkling of justification for the sacking, stating it had nothing to do with politics, age, performance or even the athletic scandal. There was no identifiable event that precipitated the dismissal either. No reasons for firing Ross add up, especially given how the board did nothing but sing his praises during the announcement.

What we are watching is the firing of a well-respected public official by a politically-appointed board with no single person owning up to forcing the resignation. The arrogance with which the board refuses to provide an answer suggests that external forces hidden from the public’s attention were the basis for the move.

The sacking of Ross is not an isolated incident — it coincides with other attacks on the UNC-system by the board.

For starters, the board passed a resolution in summer 2014 that froze and capped the percent of tuition that can be used to fund need-based financial aid. And this past fall, the board began a review of the 237 centers and institutes across the system in response to the state’s budget.

Results of the review will be announced and voted on at the board’s next meeting on Feb. 27 at UNC-Charlotte.

A group of student organizers from the UNC-Chapel Hill BOG Democracy Coalition met with Fennebresque and Jim Holmes on Monday. At that meeting, Fennebresque claimed that “President Ross and the Board of Governors are on the same page.”

Footage from the board’s announcement tells a different story: Ross’ reaction (or eyebrow raise) to Fennebresque’s insistence that his removal was “absolutely not” political speaks for itself.

But the Board of Governors does not act alone. The fingerprints of wealthy, conservative white oligarchs in Raleigh seem to be making themselves apparent on these state-sanctioned attacks on higher education.

Art Pope, CEO of discount store chain Variety Wholesalers Inc. and former state budget director for Gov. Pat McCrory, presented to the board in September, pointing to centers as an area of possible budgetary oversight. Whether Pope will emerge as a candidate for the presidency remains to be seen, but he’s not the only threat to our universities.

It is the responsibility of Ross’ successor to nominate chancellors for each of the UNC-system campuses for confirmation by the Board of Governors. At the board’s January meeting, a committee discussed a new policy that would encourage consideration of candidates from business and the military, rather than academia, on chancellor search committees.

The firing of Tom Ross is a critical step toward the forcible overhaul of the state’s higher education. The carnage doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.