Monday, September 17, 2012

Right call: Thorp to step down as UNC chancellor

Holden Thorp will step down as the chancellor at UNC Chapel Hill at the end of the current academic year, the university announced today.

The Observer's editorial board on Sunday criticized Thorp's handling of several situations over the past two years and called on the UNC Board of Governors and system President Tom Ross to consider whether Thorp was the best person to lead the campus. Later that day, Thorp went to Ross to offer his resignation.

Ross said he accepted "with considerable sadness."

As we said in our editorial, Thorp is likable and intelligent, and has some important achievements to his credit in his four years as chancellor. But he has mishandled athletic, academic and administrative scandals, severely damaging the university's reputation. His decision to step down is in the best interests of the university.

By all accounts, Thorp is a terrific chemistry professor and UNC will benefit from his return to that role.

-- Taylor Batten





4 comments:

LAP said...

Sounds like you're taking credit for his decision to step down...I doubt that's the case.

Sam said...

The guy must have done something terrible for the Observer board to come after him.......like maybe he is a registered Republican? Now that would get them all bent out of shape now wouldn't it.

Anonymous said...

Wade Hargrove made the statement that sums up things best:

“Holden Thorp has done an exemplary job as chancellor, especially in improving a wide range of processes and academic and fiscal management procedures,” Hargrove said.

Hey Wade, whatever you're on, pass it over. Sounds like you are in some kind of universe that's a lot more fun than the one the rest of us are in.

Only in the fairy tale world of UNC-CH can you have a bunch of athletes party with an agent in Miami, have the coach's babysitter write their papers, and have another athlete's mom carry on a taxpayer funded affair on your watch and have your superiors say you are doing an exemplary job.

Amazing.

Frank Miller MD said...

UNC one of my family's utilized educ institutions, my wife is a grad, is now turning into the the Southern Penn State. Without the sex scandals it has the same dynamics, cover up top to bottom, dishonest courses for football players in the disgraceful African studies dept etc. I think this they should clean house of the entire Board of Govs who shows any support for the lax leadership. And why should the now Pres be PERMITTEd to resume and retreat into a presitigous chemistry teaching position, he should be sacked from Chapel Hill environs totally. Gifts to players, hiring Tyler Hansborough's mother for near $100K it goes on and on.They refuse to release documents, it all sound like Penn State all over again. South Penn State Corrupt Univerity could be an appropriate name for UNC for a while until they get the point and start acting like responsible ethical honest adults and educational leaders. I just hope that Roy Williams' basketball program is still as clean as it was for years under Bill Guthridge and Dean Smith when they stayed after the basketball players for years hectoring and reminding them to come back to school and finish their degrees like Duke does with its b-ball players under Coach K. Put Roy W. in charge of the university and let him impose his ethics on the rest of the miscreants.