Moeser Honored for Carolina Covenant, Other Diversity Efforts

Posted on Feb. 16, 2007

The American Council on Education recently honored Chancellor James Moeser with an award for his leadership in the launch of UNC’s nationally recognized Carolina Covenant, which provides a debt-free education to deserving low-income students.

The Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award, recognizing lifetime achievement, recognizes individuals for contributions to the advancement of diversity in American higher education. The honor is named for Reginald Wilson, senior scholar emeritus at the council and former director of the council’s Office of Minority Concerns.

More than 900 students have benefited from the Carolina Covenant since it was launched 2004. Covenant students agree to work on campus 10 to 12 hours per week in a federal work-study job; Carolina meets the rest of their needs through a combination of federal, state, University and other privately funded grants and scholarships.

Carolina was the first major public university to launch such a program. The Carolina Covenant has spawned more than two dozen similar programs at public and private universities nationwide. Last September, the University hosted a conference, “The Politics of Inclusion: Higher Education at a Crossroads,” seeking national solutions to the complex issues surrounding access and affordability.

Since arriving in 2000, Moeser has been noted for championing the University’s commitment to diversity and an open intellectual community. He appointed a campus task force that produced the University’s first diversity plan, which is being implemented.

Founded in 1918, the council is the major coordinating body for all the nation’s higher education institutions, representing more than 1,600 college and university presidents, and more than 200 related associations, nationwide. It seeks to provide leadership and a unifying voice on key higher education issues and influence public policy through advocacy, research and program initiatives.

Moeser received the award at a ceremony held in conjunction with the council’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

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Related coverage is available online:

• An Unbinding Agreement: Where there’s a will inspired by a scholarships director’s own experience, there’s a way to open the University to more students by making money less of an issue. The Carolina Covenant is being watched nationwide.
  Feature coverage from the March/April 2006 Carolina Alumni Review, available online to Carolina Alumni members.

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