Gene Nichol, an outspoken critic of poverty and the state’s unwillingness to address it, must not be silenced. The University’s Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity closed last month, but its mission is resurrected with the establishment of the N.C. Poverty Research Fund.
The University must stand by Nichol and his fund, even as they are a target for criticism by conservative pundits with sway over public officials.
The fund was created to “explore, document, research and publish about the immense challenges of economic hardship in North Carolina,” according to its website.
It seeks to continue the work of the poverty center, which was ordered closed by the overwhelmingly conservative Board of Governors in February.
Many North Carolinians remain impoverished.
Yet conservative pundits have characterized the fund’s work as an audacious undertaking.
In a blog post for the Pope Center for Higher Education, opinion journalist Jay Schalin argued that the creation of the fund was contemptful of the rule of law because of the fund’s similarity to the previous center. He also said Nichol’s work was one-sided and ideologically driven.
But the fund supports legitimate research interests, and it is misguided to assert that because Nichol is a vocal critic of conservative policies that his study of poverty in North Carolina lacks merit or is motivated by partisanship.
To his credit, John Fennebresque, the chairman of the Board of Governors, told The (Raleigh) News & Observer the fund did not fall under the board’s purview and said he wished it success.
