BOG to See Major Shift in Political Affiliation

Posted on April 2, 2013

The Republican majority in both houses of the N.C. General Assembly soon will be reflected in the makeup of the UNC System Board of Governors.

The BOG now has 19 Republicans, 14 Democrats and two unaffiliated members; after new members take office July 1, the board will have 29 Republicans, two Democrats and two members who are registered unaffiliated. (Political party affiliation could not be determined for another two of the new members.)

North Carolina’s Senate and House each elect eight members to the board every two years; board members serve four-year terms. This spring, the Senate elected seven Republicans and one Democrat; the House chose five Republicans, one Democrat and two whose political affiliation is undetermined. Thirty-two members of the board are voting members; three are ex officio.

Democrats in the Legislature were decidedly unhappy with the shift, and some pointed out that when their party held the majority they made a point of electing a more politically balanced BOG. Of those who are leaving the board, some withdrew their names and others did not seek another term.

The new board will have 17 Carolina alumni, two fewer than the present board.

The 16 new members are Republicans Roger Aiken of Alexander; Henry Hinton of Greenville; Rodney Hood ’89 of Durham; William M. Kotis III ’91 of Summerfield; Scott Lampe of Davidson; Steven B. Long ’82 of Raleigh; Joan G. MacNeill of Webster; Dr. Joan Templeton Perry ’79, who also received her medical degree from UNC in ’83, of Kinston; Robert Sterling Rippy of Wilmington; Harry Leo Smith Jr. of Greenville; John Craig Souza of Raleigh; and Laura I. Wiley of High Point; Democrat R. Doyle Parrish ’76 of Raleigh; Therence O. Pickett of Greensboro, who is registered unaffiliated; and W.G. Champion Mitchell ’69, who also received his law degree from UNC in ’75, of New Bern; and G.A. Sywassink of Hilton Head Island, S.C.

The Senate elected Kotis, Lampe, Long, MacNeill, Pickett, Rippy, Smith and Souza. The House elected Aiken, Hinton, Hood, Mitchell, Parrish, Perry, Sywassink and Wiley.

The UNC System Board of Governors’ website states that the BOG “is the policy-making body legally charged with ‘the general determination, control, supervision, management, and governance of all affairs of the constituent institutions.’ It elects the president, who administers the University. The 32 voting members of the Board of Governors are elected by the General Assembly for four-year terms. Special members are non-voting members with varying terms. Such members are former chairs of the board, former governors, and the president of the UNC Association of Student Governments, or that student’s designee.”

The UNC System comprises 17 campuses — 16 are involved in higher education; the 17th is the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, a high school. Each campus has its own board of trustees.

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