Pope Family Gives $2.3 Million For Western Civ, Football Coaches
Posted on Sept. 8, 2006Early last year, the University asked the John William Pope Foundation for $4.8 million for a major curriculum enhancement in Western civilization. In the end, after more than two years of wrangling between the faculty and administration over various aspects of the program – and, in some corners, over whether a push in Western civ was appropriate – UNC will get $300,000 from the Pope family.
The announcement on Sept. 7 that the Popes would fund study abroad, summer research fellowships and a visiting scholar program in Western civ for three years was part of a $2.3 million announcement. The $2 million will go to salary enhancements for assistant football coaches.
Thus ends, at least for the time being, a saga that started in late 2003 when the Popes, historically large-scale and eclectic donors to the University, showed interest in funding a Western civ program. Some members of the faculty were alarmed: The conservative John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy has been a consistent critic of some elements of the faculty and curriculum. There were other issues. Some in the faculty saw no need for strengthening Western civ, warning that that could draw attention from more contemporary emphases in the curriculum; and some faculty members thought the administration had negotiated with the Popes without proper faculty input.
In April 2005, Art Pope ’78 turned down a $4.8 million proposal, having lost faith that the faculty was sufficiently engaged. UNC then dropped part of the proposal that included a new minor in Western civ and, in a revised proposal, asked for just less than $4 million that included first-year seminars; summer research fellowships; study abroad scholarships; and faculty fellowships, a scholar-in-residence and a visiting professorship each named for family patriarch John W. Pope ’47, Art Pope’s father.
As recently as last spring, the Western civ program still was being debated in the College of Arts and Sciences and within the faculty. But the process and the controversy within the faculty wore on Art Pope, and he scaled back the gift. In an interview he said, “At this point in time we are not considering funding the balance of it.” On the announcement day, he told The News & Observer of Raleigh that the process had been frustrating. “It just raised a lot of controversy, and the proposal kept getting revised,” he told the paper.
Pope told the Review that he hopes this won’t be the end of his family’s efforts to fund Western cultures programs at UNC. But the next step, he said, will not be a direct proposal to Carolina but a competitive overture for proposals from several schools. He said he hoped UNC would be interested in participating.
Asked if the football donation was related to or coincidental to his inability to reach agreement with the academic side, Pope said he would not characterize the athletics money as “in lieu of” the Western civ proposal but that it was related in that money in the Pope Foundation’s budget was freed up when the entire Western civ program didn’t work out.
The Pope family made its money in wholesaling through its Variety Wholesalers stores. The family has given money in all corners of the campus – the College of Arts and Sciences; the Ackland Art Museum; the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute; the schools of law, business, social work and medicine; the General Alumni Association; the athletics department; and others. Within Kenan Stadium are the Pope Family Box and the John W. Pope Academic Support Center for athletes. John W. Pope, a former UNC trustee, died in August following a long illness.
The football program will receive an estimated $100,000 per year from the $2 million endowment.
“The late John Pope Sr. had a wonderful passion for his alma mater, and this latest generous gift from the foundation strongly reflects his personal desire to support excellence in both athletics and academics,” Chancellor James Moeser said in a statement. “Carolina football would not be what it is today without John. And through his involvement as a trustee, volunteer and generous donor, the University’s academic programs have benefited greatly.”
Said Pope, “My father believed in excellence in all aspects of University life, especially academics. Our family also believes coaches are teachers, and this endowment rewards excellence in their chosen discipline.”
The summer research fellowships will enable 10 undergraduate students to engage in original inquiry and scholarship in Western cultures. Students will design projects to be carried out in the United States or abroad, with help from a faculty adviser.
The five study abroad fellowships will serve students with similar interests. The fellowships will send them to learn in one of Carolina’s study abroad programs that best suit their academic pursuits, such as College Year in Athens, which offers a curriculum in Ancient Greek Civilization and another in Mediterranean Studies.
The gift also will bring a visiting scholar to campus for three to five days each year. Selected by a faculty committee with expertise in Western studies, they will meet with students and faculty, teach classes, participate in readings and symposia, and offer a major public lecture.
“We want more undergraduate students to have opportunities to design their own research projects with one-on-one guidance from faculty,” Moeser said. “We want more undergraduate students to experience life abroad, gaining the global perspective that is so critical to success in our increasingly global society. This gift advances both those aims.”
More online…
- UNC Re-submits Western Civ Proposal to Pope Family
News report from August 2005 - Donor Backs Off Proposal for Western Civ Program
News report from April 2005 - The Wild, Wild West – Carolina takes a long look into a gift horse’s mouth, and everything old is new again. From the May/June 2005 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review, available online to Carolina Alumni members.
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