Republicans, whites will continue to control the UNC BOG

As the march to hiring a new President of the University of North Carolina system, as the effort to find a replacement for Tom Ross who was asked to vacate his office before he desired to retire, change approaches in the make-up of the Board of Governors, to whom Ross and the new President report. There are 16 members of the 32 person board whose terms expire this year, and the process of nominating and selecting has begun.

The State Senate has nominated 16 men and women; voter registration records show that there are 11 registered Republican, three registered Democratic, and one registered unaffiliated. Under the subject of race, the make-up of the 16 Senate nominees includes 11 whites and 4 blacks/African Americans. There are four women and 11 men. All of this public information is available through the NC Public Voter Search section of the North Carolina Board of Elections website. Look me up if you wish: Democratic, white, male.

Those nominated by the Senate include:

• Republicans: John Fennebresque, Lou Bissette, Frank Grainger (all three current BOG members); and Robert J Brown, Thomas Goolsby, Benjamin Jenkins III, Charles McCurry, Temple Sloan III, William Webb, Terry Yeargan, and Michael Williford.
• Democrats: Jesse Cureton, Brenda Diggs, and Ericka Ellie-Stewart.
• Unaffiliated: Anna Spangler Nelson, who voted in the Republican primary election in May 2014 but participated in the nine previous Democratic primary elections. She is also a current member of the BOG. Her father was once the President of the UNC System.

The House will come up with its own list of nominees to choose the other eight. That could happen sooner or later. Terms that expire this year end June 30. Voter affiliation, race, gender and recent voting records will also be available at the NC BOE website for those nominees. But, surely none of that matters to the members of the General Assembly. For sure, those nominated and selected are the most qualified beyond political contributions and the good ol' boy network. Right?

In the meantime, the process to hire a replacement for Ross has started with the forming of three committees, all controlled by BOG Chairman John Fennebresque. If someone on the nomination committee is reading, please remember that among the top talent for consideration is current NC State University Chancellor Randy Woodson. Is the nomination process open to the public? Read all about it at: Choice for UNC President should be Dr. Randy Woodson of NC State

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