Faculty Council struggles to reach consensus about Silent Sam on University Day

After Chancellor Carol Folt finished her responsibilities at last week’s University Day proceedings, she sat in at the Faculty Council meeting, where nearly 100 professors gathered to voice opinions on a set of statements that would specify the faculty’s stance regarding the potential whereabouts of Silent Sam. 

She was there primarily to present awards to distinguished faculty but also to listen to the diverse council formulate ideas and opinions. 

Faculty were there to finalize three resolutions. The first was a statement of support toward Folt’s remarks in which she acknowledged the statue does not belong at UNC’s front door. The second was about finding a safe way forward from this point. The third was a response to “Statement from UNC Black Faculty on Silent Sam,” published in The Daily Tar Heel.

The third resolution – initially submitted by Frank Baumgartner, a political science professor – read, “In light of the ‘Statement from UNC Black Faculty on Silent Sam’ published in the Daily Tar Heel on September 6, 2018, we request the permanent removal of the statue and its base from the UNC campus.”

Baumgartner said the viewpoints of black faculty should be prioritized and there has been an atmosphere of hypocrisy and contradiction engrained within the University’s thinking. 

“It makes me realize that we may not all have empathy,” Baumgartner said. “When I walk past that statue it bothers me in my brain. It doesn’t bother me in my gut. It doesn’t bother me in my heart. It doesn’t scare me.”

A professor asked for any black faculty willing to share their opinions to speak on whether they thought there could be an acceptable outcome involving the statue’s return to campus. 

“My great-great-grandfather — a white man — fought in the Confederate war,” said Yolanda Scarlett from the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. “It’s a mixed bag in my family.”

Despite her complicated family history, Scarlett strongly disapproved even a contextualized relocation of the monument. 

“That was a nasty time in history," Scarlett said. "It happened. We can't change it. I do not think we can move forward with the base or statue anywhere on our campus.”

There was overwhelming support for the Black faculty’s denouncement of Silent Sam, which caused a great deal of hesitation regarding the other resolution the council was supposed to ratify that day — formal backing of Folt’s insistence that the statue doesn't belong “at the front door of a safe, welcoming, proudly public research university.”

Problems arose when some professors began to interpret the two statements as being at odds with one another, making simultaneous support of both impossible. 

In one corner, the statement from the black faculty is very clear about a zero-tolerance policy regarding Silent Sam’s return. Folt’s statement, however, is ambiguous and nondescript about plans for the statue’s relocation. The “front door” terminology, which alludes to McCorkle Place, was particularly troubling to some council members, who argued that since UNC is an open campus without borders, it wouldn't be feasible for the monument to be displayed in a subtle way that wasn't at the “front door.” 

Folt’s refusal to elaborate on her and the Board of Trustee’s thinking processes stiffened the rift between her and the faculty. Folt gave a rendition of the talk she delivered at University Day, saying UNC’s “unique legacy demands we need to reconcile our past with our present and our future.”

The council member who was recognized to ask the second question yielded her time to Lindsay Ayling, a Ph.D. student in the Department of History. Ayling brought along a series of documents she wished to share with Folt. 

A self-described Silent Sam protester, Ayling claimed to have been the victim of reoccurring online harassment. 

“I printed off some threats,” she said. “These are just a few.”

She went on to describe online interactions: People threatening to run protesters over with their cars, bringing M-16s to a protest and using Stand Your Ground to justify violence, among others. 

“This person looked up my history department website and used University-produced information to stalk me, and then said that he would come to my office,” she said. “And he added: ‘Weak-ass c***. I wonder if she’d be so smug if I showed up at her office and said hi.’”

When Ayling finished sharing the threats and asked the Chancellor a question, it encapsulated the ongoing tension between faculty and administration, throwing the room into silence. 

“How can you square that with your vow to support law and order?” Ayling asked, referring to Folt’s lack of a confirmation that the statue won’t return to campus. 

“Even if you could square that legally, how do you square that morally?” Ayling asked.

Folt said it wasn't the time or place to give an update about relocation discussions, emphasizing instead the importance for the faculty council to engage in conversations regarding their own opinions. 

Eventually, the council decided to combine statements, bolstering the language in the first by adding a clause making clear the council disapproves of the statue’s presence on campus. 

The meeting ended with applause for the secretary, who had to guide the council through laborious parliamentary procedure, even when discussions became loud and passionate. As faculty were leaving, the chancellor approached Lindsay Ayling.

She apologized and offered to look at the threats so the University might be able to investigate them. However, the conversation turned hostile when two other people, both around Ayling’s age, joined Ayling’s side and started harshly criticizing Folt. They attacked her character, and said she was playing both sides of the game and has no real care for the opinions of the students. Folt responded, saying the criticizers had no idea who Folt actually was as a person, and she was tired of talking to them. 

Throughout the meeting, an air of dissonance was dividing the professors and the administration. As the November deadline concerning Silent Sam's fate draws near, faculty will not need to wait much longer for Folt's decision. 

university@dailytarheel.com