By Thomas W. Ross
President Emeritus
University of North Carolina System
Almost every day, someone asks me how I feel about Margaret Spellings as my successor. After acknowledging that I would have preferred to continue in the role myself, I say to those who ask that we must all do everything in our power to ensure her success.
It is unfair to blame her for what happened to me or for the process that selected her. Instead, we must all realize she is now the President of our University of North Carolina – the best public university system in America.
The residents of North Carolina and all of us who love the University must do our part to assist our new president by doing everything necessary and possible to maintain this great treasure that generations of North Carolinians have built.
Our University and her faculty and staff deserve no less. Our 225,000 students deserve no less. And the economy of North Carolina, which has distinguished itself with its historical emphasis on higher education, deserves no less.
President Spellings has publicly stated she is deeply committed to access to higher education for all North Carolinians and to ensuring it is affordable for all of our residents. I could not agree more.
We need to work together to be sure the University is provided the resources needed to accomplish this critical goal at the same time we help our new President continue our past efforts to increase efficiency. Our record is a strong one. Adjusted for inflation, the UNC system now produces 18% more graduates at 15% less cost per degree than it did five years ago.
We are at a critical juncture for state support of our public universities. If we are to remain economically competitive, we must continue to have a strong and vibrant public university system that is producing the talent our state’s businesses need to succeed in the changing global economy in which we live.
All great public universities need sufficient resources and successful leadership. I sincerely hope we can all do our part to assist President Spellings in her effort obtain the necessary state support to lead our beloved University to an even brighter future.
Kim Deloatch says
Tom Ross is a class act! As a two time alum and 26 year faculty member at UNC-Chapel Hill, I also hope that President Spelling will be successful in garnering the resources that the UNC system requires to maintain its excellence.
MacGregor Frank says
I’m having some difficulty admitting that Tom Ross is correct: We need to promote Spelling’s success, even though her appointment was entirely political, circumventing appropriate process, & resulting in a president who seems totally unqualified for the job.
Maggie Lauterer says
I am truly impressed with the gracious letter by Mr. Ross, considering the nasty dismissal he suffered.
I cannot, however, embrace Margaret Spellings as the president of our beloved institution. Her appointment is purely partisan, considering she has only a bachelor’s degree, but rose to her position as Secretary of Education (which Republicans want to destroy), all because she was a George W Bush lackey in Texas and he brought her along to D.C. How can I believe she knows how to run a university system? What does she REALLY know about education? Frankly, I don’t think she has the qualifications other than being a Republican for our Republican legislature and governor.
So thank you, Mr. Ross. I stand with those students who are protesting in Chapel Hill. I wish them success.
Faithfully a Tar Heel grad,
Maggie Lauterer
Class of 1967
Gail Sewell says
Thank you, Maggie, As always, you have a way with words. We agree with you fully. It’s disheartening when there is an outcry against our University president even before she starts the job! What has happened to our beloved State? What will happen to our beloved University?
Concerned UNC-CH grads,
Gail Williams Sewell, Class of 1976
Mike Sewell, Class of 1975
Ann Lane says
Maggie
I agree with you 100%. And even if the $millions bond is suppose go to education, when originally it was to go to roads, there is no way I will support this bond. McCrory doesn’t even know what he wants to spend it on. He just wants to raise taxes and spend our money.
Mark Carerpent says
If we truly love our university (and I do) and our entire system, it is time to put politics aside and do everything we can to ensure that President Spellings is successful–as Mr. Ross says. There is too much about our educational system that has become politicized already.
Jim Van Hecke says
Like so many of us, I deeply regret the process that ended Tom Ross’s tenure as President of The University of North Carolina. He was a great President and we will miss his leadership.
Whether we have questions about Margaret Spellings’s qualifications and past associations, she is the new President of OUR university system and, in order to protect and preserve its great heritage and to grow its impact on all our citizens, we must now welcome Ms. Spellings and do all we can to help her be a success. Part of helping her be successful is to constantly remind her, hopefully in gentle but firm ways, of how the success of our state is inextricably linked to the success of our great university. I pray for wisdom, strength and courage to do that well and also for her willingness to listen, learn and act accordingly.
Peggy Wright says
Yes, Thomas Ross has written graciously asking for support for the university system. However, recent decisions by the state legislature and executive have changed the university system of which we had reason to be proud.
A recap of those changes include the dismissal of Thomas Ross as president. Next, we have huge increases to the compensation (tens of thousands of dollars-buying their silence) for the remaining chancellors, then we have the appointment of Margaret Spellings as president of the system. All of these changes further a political agenda.
Margaret Spellings did not say “no” when asked if she favored privatization of the system. What she said in an interview by Frank Stasio is that “there is plenty of work for everyone.” She seems to be advocating the failed Corinthian model of education. She is pushing the “training” model of instruction implying that the purpose of education is to establish a career. She says that a liberal arts education is available to anyone who wishes it. In my mind, this is tantamount to making the University of North Carolina system into an expensive community college.
Since human beings are human beings before and after they punch a time clock, education should be about so much more than making a living. It’s about living a life.
I recently talked with a social worker in a hospital. He was a history major. I asked him if he regretted any of the books he read or, really, any part of his liberal education. Without hesitation, his answer was no.
I sit here with a belief that I just formed this afternoon as I listened to the State of Things with Frank Stasio and listened to Margaret Spellings. And that belief is this – those who are now in control of the legislature and the executive and others of their persuasion are afraid of the liberally educated – whether the liberally educated be Republican or Democrat.
Tony Hornthal says
Kim Deloatch captures my sentiments. Tom Ross is indeed a class act, a splendid example of a public servant who has put self aside in his life-long ministry of reconciliation for the common good, not counting the trespasses of those who have wronged him against them, and ever looking forward and not behind. May President Spelling follow his example, with the support of all of us to which Tom has called us.
Tony Hornthal
Alice Southwick says
The loss of President Ross was a great one and the particular way in which it happened has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many of us. That said, I appreciate the sentiment that President Ross expresses here. Just as we do on the national stage, we need to work together for the common good and the larger goals of the University.
mary donny says
Thank you Mr. Ross. I am not an alumnus of UNC, but feel that UNC graduates make the world go around. I am quite concerned about Ms. Spellings in her new position BUT I have to believe that UNC alumni and students have the ability to make change happen, if needed, if they put their well-trained minds to it.
William H. Freeman says
Tom Ross certainly did show class in this appeal, but nobody should be surprised. He is and always has been a class act. He showed class during his entire term as President. He avoided politics and his only concern was what was best for the university system. We were fortunate to have a man of his ability and dedication.
I agree with Tom and wish the new president success for the good of education. She will face a real challenge dealing with a legislature which seems bent on tearing down the great educational system North Carolina was established over many years. I sincerely hope President Spelling will show the same class as Tom and will try her best to return our state as a leader in education in this nation. I also hope our legislators will cooperate with her in this endeavor.
Hugh Stevens says
Yes, Tom Ross’s ouster was wrong. Yes, there almost surely were better qualified candidates to succeed him. But recrimination is bile that does harm only to the person who generates it. My mother’s advice would have consisted of three words: “Get over it.”