Attorney General Josh Stein says he isn’t keen on the UNC Board of Governors’ decision to give $2.5 million to the Sons of Confederate Veterans to care for Silent Sam, despite the university telling students he had a say in the agreement.
Stein’s office sent out a statement Thursday saying that he “personally believes it is an excessive amount of money that should instead be used to strengthen the university and support students.”
According to the state Department of Justice, Stein’s office only advised the BOG about whether the agreement was legal, as The News & Observer reported this morning.
In a letter to students last week, interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz seemed to pass the blame onto Stein, saying “The BOG’s proposal to enter into the settlement agreement with the Sons of the Confederate Veterans (SCV) was reviewed and authorized by the N.C. Attorney General and a consent judgment was signed by a Superior Court Judge.”
UNC-CH students have consistently shared their dissatisfaction with the BOG’s decision, through social media and in physical protests outside Guskiewicz’s office. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is planning to intervene in the lawsuit that gave the SCV the statue and the money. And, of course, T. Greg Doucette has threatened to sue the group unless it gives the money to black UNC students.
On Friday, the BOG is holding a “special meeting by conference call”—members don’t seem terribly interested in encountering any human beings face to face, for some reason—where some suspect the group will vote to make Guskiewicz the school’s permanent chancellor.
Students and community members are planning to protest that morning outside of the UNC Friday Center.
Contact digital content manager Sara Pequeño at spequeno@indyweek.com.
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