Updated 10:54 p.m: Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz responded to Judge Baddour's dismissal of the Silent Sam suit with a statement reiterating his position on the monument.
“Today’s court ruling leaves many questions to be answered regarding the ownership and disposition of the monument," he said in the statement. "However I stand behind and reaffirm what I have said for over two years: The monument does not belong on our campus.”
Updated 2:25 p.m: Ripley Rand, the lawyer who represented the UNC System and Board of Governors in the Silent Sam settlement, said in a statement that Judge Baddour's dismissal of the case was "not the result we had hoped for."
"Judge Baddour gave us a fair hearing, and he afforded all parties the necessary time and consideration to be heard," he said in the statement. "The Board of Governors knew from the very beginning that this was a difficult but needed solution to meet all their goals to protect public safety of the University community, restore normality to campus, and be compliant with the Monuments Law."
HILLSBOROUGH — Judge Allen Baddour ruled that the North Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans Inc. did not have standing to sue in the Silent Sam case and vacated the consent judgment on Wednesday.
This action comes after students, alumni and faculty moved to intervene in the case and submitted an amicus brief to the Orange County court system asking for a reversal of the decision.
The Silent Sam settlement decision between the SCV and the BOG, which gave the North Carolina SCV possession of Silent Sam and access to a $2.5 million trust for its preservation, has been controversial since it was announced on Nov. 27, 2019.
