RALEIGH (March 31, 2021) – State legislators made the UNC System Board of Governors slightly more diverse with their appointments this month, increasing the number of female, Black and Democratic members by one each on the 24-member board.
The state Senate made seven appointments to the board. Senators reappointed BOG Chair Randy Ramsey of Beaufort, Art Pope of Raleigh and Jimmy Clark of Greensboro.
They added three new members: Developer Kirk Bradley of Sanford, who is associated with the Governors Club near Chapel Hill; Sonja Nichols of Charlotte, a former candidate for the state Senate; and Lee Roberts of Raleigh, a former state budget director under former Gov. Pat McCrory.
The Senate also filled the unexpired term of new Fayetteville State University Chancellor Darrell Allison by appointing former state senator Joel Ford of Charlotte, an alumnus of N.C. A&T State University.
Nichols and Ford are African-American. They will increase the number of African-Americans on the board to four, or 17%. And Ford will become the only Democrat on the board when the appointments take effect July 1.
Nichols will increase the number of women on the board to six, or 25%. Meanwhile, 57% of students in the UNC System are female.
Raleigh lawyer Steve Long, Greensboro developer Marty Kotis and Dwight Stone of Greensboro, a former chair of the Board of Trustees at UNC-Chapel Hill, will leave the board when their terms expire June 30.
In appearances before a Senate nominating committee, Bradley referred to the UNC System as “a crown jewel” for the state. He pointed to UNC-Chapel Hill research that led to a Pfizer gene-therapy center in Sanford that plans to hire 300 employees.1
“It’s a great idea factory,” he said.
Nichols, who has raised $2.1 million for scholarships for African-American students, said she will bring a different perspective to the board and wants to advocate for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and smaller campuses in the system.
Pope, who like Roberts was a state budget director for former Gov. McCrory, cited the state’s constitutional mandate for low tuition and said he intends to reduce student fees.
Roberts said he wants to focus on access and affordability and build on NC Promise, which offers in-state tuition of $500 a semester at Elizabeth City State University, UNC-Pembroke and Western Carolina University. He said he also wants to see that state universities spend taxpayer money wisely.
“The families of North Carolina make a colossal and ongoing commitment to the (UNC) System,” he said.
THE STATE HOUSE reappointed five members to the Board of Governors and named former state Rep. John Fraley, R-Iredell, to fill a seat currently held by Doyle Parrish of Raleigh.
Fraley was a steady supporter of higher education during his three terms in the House and is a board member of myFutureNC, an effort to make sure North Carolina has 2 million workers ages 25-44 with a degree or high-quality credential by 2030.
The House reappointed current BOG members Kellie Blue of Robeson County, Carolyn Coward of Buncombe County, former House Majority Leader Leo Daughtry of Johnston County, lobbyist Reginald Holley of Brunswick County and Wendy Murphy of Duplin County.
The six House appointees include three women, one African-American and one Native American.
Bill Baggins says
I long for the day when our politicians are valued for their beliefs, their ideas, and their character, rather than their genitals and the color of their skin. This obsession with “diversity” is some of the most performative slacktivism imaginable, that doesn’t do a single thing to help students and the working class.