Campus Reform Reports: The Board of Trustees (BoT) at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) is causing a major shake-up in its curriculum and degree offerings, generating concerns from the faculty.

The BoT voted on January 26 to develop a “School of Civic Life and Leadership” to fulfill the school’s mission of “promoting democracy and serving to benefit society,” according to the resolution.

To achieve these goals, the Board stipulates that the school must have at least 20 new faculty members and can either be absorbed into a current school within the university or may justify the creation of an entirely new school within the university.

Within hours of the BoT vote, Board Chair David Boliek and Vice Chair John Preyer provided comment to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) about the vote, convincing faculty members and pundits that the move was political rather than educational.

Preyer stated that the school will hire faculty “across the ideological spectrum,” noting, “I don’t want to indoctrinate on the right anymore than I want to indoctrinate on the left.”

The ultimate objective is to remove the “political constraints on what can be taught in university classes.”