The Charlotte lawyer, 68, had a reputation as blunt, and then he took it upon himself to demand the resignation of UNC President Tom Ross. Several board members had written scathing emails in the past couple of weeks, calling for him to resign.
Advertisement
Former U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings was announced on Friday as the next UNC president. That process was panned by fellow board members as too secretive. Fennebresque did rebut claims that the move was political; Ross is a Democrat and the board has shifted to a nearly-unanimous Republican makeup in the years since Republicans have claimed a majority in the North Carolina General Assembly.
“I have tears in my eyes right now”, he said during brief remarks.
Ms Spellings, current president of the George W Bush Presidential Center, who served in the cabinet under Mr Bush from 2005 to 2009, created the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which focused on how well colleges and universities were preparing students for the 21st-century workplace and how well high schools were preparing students for post-secondary education.
Recently, many board members called for the resignation of Fennebresque, who pushed through the resignation of current president Tom Ross.
Just days after praising the selection of next president of the University of North Carolina -system, John Fennebresque has resigned his seat on the UNC Board of Governors, effective immediately. They complained about being excluded from what they said was a search process that was secret. “Empowering others to lead is an important characteristic of a true leader, and I thank John for it”.
Fennebresque is quoted in the release saying, “It has been my honor and privilege to serve on the UNC Board of Governors, and I am delighted we could bring in a nationally proven and accomplished leader to serve as the next President of this great University System”. It meets in regular session this Friday.
Advertisement
W. Louis Bissette, Jr., the vice chairperson on the board, will act as chairperson until a replacement is elected, according to the news release.
