Appointment
Every two years, there are six members of the board who are either newly appointed or reappointed for a four-year term. Of those six, four are appointed by the Board of Governors, one is appointed by the N.C. Senate and one is appointed by the N.C. House.
Twelve trustees, in addition to the student body president, comprise the 13-member board.
When Evans was moving back to North Carolina three years ago, she said Moore reached out to her about becoming involved with the University.
During Evans' junior year of college, Moore was speaker of the UNC Student Congress and she served under him.
"He was a Republican and I was a Democrat," she said. "And we worked really well together."
Evans is now a registered Republican. She said she considers herself a moderate and that California is not the same "politically charged environment" that exists in North Carolina.
“I don’t think there was really any opposition to her taking the position,” N.C. Rep. Ray Pickett (R-Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga), co-chair of the Education and Universities committee within the House, said.
Evans said that although she understands why some faculty are concerned with political overreach from the General Assembly into UNC's governance, she said she sees the connection between the state and the University differently.
"In what world do we think the General Assembly wouldn't have the influence that it has over our budget and our University and our governance?" she said. "The General Assembly created the University."
David Boliek, chair of the BOT during the 2022-23 term, said he didn't hear "a single complaint or observation" about the legislature and their picks on the BOT when Democrats were in control of the legislature.
He said it's only because Republicans were put on the board that individuals had "some kind of problem" with political overreach.
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Priorities
"Campus security is paramount," Evans said.
She said the board was focused on campus safety well before the Aug. 28 shooting and the pointing of a gun at Alpine Bagel.
"You'll see this trustee group deeply, deeply committed to anything and everything we can do to make this campus safer and more secure," she said.
Campus safety initiatives will be further discussed in the Sept. 28 full BOT meeting, she said.
Evans also identified faculty pay, retainment and morale as "pain points" within the University that she hopes to help improve.
"Our goal, our intent and our job is to make UNC the best university in the country and to have the value of your degree be as high as it can be," she said.
Evans said she hopes she can make the student experience as good and meaningful as it can be from curriculum and athletics to campus and student life.
She said she thinks about helping create a substantive University experience for UNC students as a lifelong journey.
@abbypenderr
@dailytarheel | university@dailytarheel.com
