As reported in your article on the Program for Public Discourse's "seed money donor," Dean Chris Clemens feels aggrieved. Officers of the AAUP, he claims, have been unfair to him. “I sent an email [about the donors] to be transparent for members of AAUP, and they’ve been pretending not to know this to create a narrative.”
Unfortunately for Clemens, the words of his own email, quoted in your story, show that he's being less than honest.
In an email to the chapter president of the AAUP, who had asked about the identity of donors, Clemens said "I believe" the Dowd Foundation provided the largest donation and "I think" the University was also pursuing the Park Foundation. In that same email, he acknowledged other "individuals" were being contacted and admitted that he himself did not have "the most up-to-date information" about the donor situation.
He invited Rob Parker, a senior associate Dean in the development office who was copied on the email, to provide more detail; that added detail never arrived. Instead, AAUP officers requested the information through an unsuccessful public records request because the information is 'private'. We complained about a lack of transparency surrounding this program and its finances because administrators have consistently failed to provide clear, accurate, and honest representations of the Program's origins.
The AAUP is a body of faculty. Its desire is not to "create a narrative" — indeed, it is Clemens’ story that does not comport with the facts — but rather to ensure that UNC continues to abide by the open, democratic, and regular processes of shared governance.
Jay M. Smith
Professor of History and Vice-President, Chapel Hill AAUP chapter
