At Monday's Faculty Executive Committee meeting, Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz announced that the UNC-system Board of Governors has extended the deadline for the Silent Sam preservation plan from March 15 to late May, according to an email from a member of the committee.
A specific deadline was not mentioned, although Guskiewicz said the BOG will consider plans for Silent Sam at the May 20-22 meeting, the email reads. The email did not cite reasons for the extension.
After Silent Sam was pulled down by protestors in August 2018, the BOG originally gave the UNC Board of Trustees and former Chancellor Carol Folt a Nov. 15 deadline to present a plan for the preservation of the monument, although the deadline was later extended to December when Folt announced the BOT needed more time.
On Dec. 3, Folt and the BOT released their plan: housing Silent Sam in a new, single-purpose building where it could be historically contextualized.
A little over a week later, the BOG rejected the plan, citing public safety concerns. Five members of the BOG were assigned to work with Folt and the BOT to create a revised plan by March 15.
In January, Folt announced plans to resign at the end of the academic year and ordered the removal of Silent Sam's remaining pedestal. The BOG voted to make her resignation effective Jan. 31, leaving the new plan in the hands of Guskiewicz and the Board.
