This story originally published online at NC Newsline.
When UNC-Chapel Hill announced the inaugural faculty for its controversial new School of Civic Life and Leadership late last week, it was difficult to miss a through-line across the nine faculty members from various departments and disciplines: They are all white.
That wasn’t by design, said Sara Treul Roberts, a political science professor named interim dean and director of the new school last week.
“I can tell you that candidates of color were nominated, but then chose not to apply,” Roberts said. “And no candidates of color were self-nominated. The reasons why that’s the case, though, you would have to ask ask those people.”
Over the summer, faculty members in the new school’s home in the College of Arts and Sciences were invited to nominate themselves or other faculty members to become part of the school’s initial faculty. Those selected would serve dual appointments in their existing department and in the new school, Roberts told Newsline in an interview this week. The only requirement was that faculty considered for the new school, like the 10 to 20 faculty the NC General Assembly has mandated the university hire from outside the campus, be tenured or tenure track. The pool was ultimately about 50 applicants, Roberts said, but included no applicants of color.
Several current and former faculty members of color told Newsline this week they were nominated or privately approached about joining the new school. Each said they were put off by the unprecedented nature of the General Assembly’s conservative majority and its political appointees initiating the school and dictating specifics down to who is to be hired, when that will happen and from where they will come.
“You have some of these people at very high levels saying openly the goal of this school is to bring in more conservative voices, to ‘level the playing field’ and to push back on how liberal our faculty are,” one such faculty member told Newsline this week.
The individual—like other faculty of color who spoke to Newsline this week—asked not to be named due to concerns of political reprisal.
“There may be faculty members who are comfortable with that or who think they can change that, or control the process if they’re part of it,” the faculty member said. “But I don’t think you’re going to find Black faculty members who are that naive, frankly.”
The school was described as a “conservative center” by UNC System leaders from its earliest conceptions and more recently as a means of “leveling the playing field” on a campus where conservatives believe liberal views are overrepresented. Several faculty members of color told Newsline that the way politically appointed members of the UNC System Board of Governors and the campus Board of Trustees have characterized the new school while criticizing the campus and its faculty has created a stigma that will be difficult for the new school to shake.
“There is no part of this process that hasn’t had the hands of the legislature or people they appoint all over it,” the faculty member said. “When they tell you what it’s going to be and what it’s going to do, when they go on Fox News and to the Wall Street Journal to say conservatives are marginalized while they attack any attempt to deal with the real and long-time racial diversity concern on our campus, you need to believe them the first time. I wasn’t interested in being a Black face they could point to while they were putting together a school this way.”
Partisan rhetoric in highly partisan outlets is a curious way to begin a school whose stated goal is to teach students to bridge ideological divides and foster civil discussion, the faculty member said. The all-white initial faculty is the result of that, they said, and the administration plowing ahead without dealing with why no faculty of color are interested in participating is a further demonstration of the problem.
Treul said she understands those concerns, but believes the school will be able to bring more diversity to the school with new hires and include the perspectives of faculty of color already teaching at Carolina.”
“We had the pool we had,” Treul said of the initial appointments. “And I certainly look forward to working with other partners across the university and connecting with scholars and instructors of color across Carolina to engage with them and bring their perspectives to the School of Civic Life and Leadership as well.”
Roberts, who directed the new school’s precursor, the Program for Public Discourse, said she trusts the initial faculty will be given the opportunity to build the school on their own terms, without outside interference. If faculty on and off campus see that happen, she said, she believes there will be more interest from all quarters.
“My primary goal is to build trust and transparency,” Roberts said. “And to make sure that this is something that is uniquely Carolina. This is an amazing opportunity, as a faculty member, to get to build something and develop an entire new school from more or less scratch. It’s one of those opportunities that I think there will be ample interest in across all viewpoints across all backgrounds across all ideologies.”
Faculty leaders said they also hope that happens.
“I certainly hope that the entire faculty won’t be limited to people who are white,” said Beth Moracco, chair of the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill. “I think it’s important for understanding—a variety of perspectives and lived experiences are important to understanding civic life and discourse as you discuss current issues.”
It was heartening to see the diversity of disciplines and quality of faculty among the first appointments, Moracco said, and administrators say they intend the formation of the school going forward to be faculty-led.
“We all hope that will be the case, of course,” Moracco said.
The first faculty
Newsline reached out to each of the nine initial faculty members at the new school this week. Most declined to be interviewed on the record or directed questions to the new interim dean or Jim White, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. White’s office said he was not available for an interview this week, but directed Newsline to his previous public statements on the new school.
All nine initial faculty are either registered Democrats or unaffiliated, according to publicly available voter records — something that came as a surprise to faculty who assumed Republican faculty members would flock to the school.
Three of the nine initial faculty members are women — Roberts, the new interim dean and director; Inger Brody, a professor of English and comparative literature; and Molly Worthen, a professor of history.
The other five are men — Kurt Gray, a professor of psychology and neuroscience; Fabian Heitsch, a professor of physics and astronomy; Matthew Kotzen, a professor of philosophy; Christian Lundberg, a professor of communication; and Jason Roberts, a professor of political science.
Jason Roberts, who is also the husband of the new school’s interim dean and director, did speak with Newsline this week. While he declined to comment on the lack of faculty members of color among the initial group who will help forge the new school and its direction, he said he believes faculty can make the school what it should be.
“I hope it’s something first and foremost, that everyone at Carolina can be proud of,” he said. “I come on to it from a political science point of view. And I hope we can develop citizen scholars who can be good democratic citizens.”
“When I look at the political landscape today, I see that we have to castigate people we disagree with,” Roberts said. “And I think that that’s bad for democracy. It doesn’t really help us work through our differences. And so, I want to help build a place where students can learn to respectfully disagree and learn to have civil discussions, express those disagreements, be a part of democratic process, accept democratic outcomes and be involved in in their community.”
Jason Roberts also serves on the Orange County Board of Elections. In that role, he said, he’s seen firsthand what the breakdown of civil discourse means not just at the national but at the local level.
“Something that is critical to the functioning of democracy is running elections,” he said. “And we’re having a crisis in this country of people not wanting to be poll workers, because of the kind of vitriol and things we have towards people who are giving their time to help our democracy function.”
The new school can be part of that solution, he said, by preparing university students at a formative period in their lives to go into their communities, act as good citizens and help protect democracy.
That can only happen if there is confidence in the school from faculty, students and the public, he said. The school shouldn’t be a place where people are hired because of a certain political persuasion, he said, but should be a place where all views are respected and given their due.
“That is something I’m committed to, regardless of what people’s views are,” Roberts said. “I want to I want my classroom and the school to be a place where we can have open and free discussion. I think that’s what we all want.”
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