North Carolina Board Rejects Chapel Hill’s Controversial Plan for Silent Sam

After a key meeting on Friday, Silent Sam’s fate remains uncertain.

The University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors did not approve the flagship’s plan to house the toppled Confederate monument in a new, campus history museum, dealing a blow to Chapel Hill administrators who had hoped their compromise solution would end the rancor over Silent Sam.

After a three-hour closed session to discuss the monument, the board chair, Harry Smith Jr., said that while members “applaud” the plan, the board could not support it in its current form, “given the concerns about public safety and the use of state funds for a new building, or the proposal to expend $5.3 million” on the building, as outlined in Chapel Hill’s plan.