Second interim vice chancellor for student affairs chosen since Crisp's resignation

Christi Hurt, the interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs, will leave her post on Aug. 16 to join a firm that advises universities on campus safety services, according to a press release from the University. She will also complete her doctorate at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.

She was named acting vice chancellor after the resignation of Winston Crisp, who served in the position from 2010 until his retirement in October of last year. One month before he retired, WRAL released texts and emails from the night of Silent Sam’s toppling, which included an exchange between Crisp and Hurt.

Jonathan Sauls, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs, will become the new interim vice chancellor while the nationwide search for a permanent replacement continues. 

Hurt will become vice president for strategic initiatives for Cozen O’Connor’s Institutional Response Group, and its affiliate, Margolis Healy and Associates. 

The website of Cozen O’Connor says it ranks among the top 100 law firms in the country, and has a client list including Fortune 500 companies and high-profile individuals.

Margolis Healy deals with “campus safety, security, and regulatory compliance for higher education and K-12,” according to its website. 

Hurt was previously the director of the Carolina Women’s Center, chaired the campus-wide Sexual Assault Task Force, and was the University’s first full-time Title IX coordinator, on an interim basis. 

She holds an adjunct faculty position in the department of Women’s and Gender Studies, teaching a course on leadership and violence prevention, and teaches additional classes in the School of Government. 

Sauls was previously named in a complaint reported on by The Daily Tar Heel in 2013. The complaint was filed by the then-assistant dean of students, Melinda Manning, and four others. It cited concerns about UNC’s handling of sexual assault cases.

The complaint was filed to the U.S. Department of Education, alleging that UNC violated the Clery Act, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, among other federal laws.

The complaint alleged Manning “endured persistent hostility” from Jonathan Sauls while he was her direct superior, and that she was reprimanded by Sauls for reaching out to then-Chancellor Holden Thorp and the Office for Civil Rights regarding UNC’s handling of sexual assault.

The press release for Hurt’s departure, issued by interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Robert Blouin, said Sauls “is a trusted leader who has risen steadily through the ranks since coming to Carolina in 2005.”