News
Email
Print
'How about a U?' UNC board says OK
NCSA's next step is General Assembly
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: May 10, 2008
Updated:
CHAPEL HILL - The N.C. School of the Arts is one hurdle away from getting a "U" in front of its name.
The UNC board of governors voted yesterday to recommend changing the school's name to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
The change will become official if it is approved by the General Assembly, which will start its short session Tuesday.
"We're moving forward," said Michael Pulitzer, the chairman of NCSA's board of trustees. "It's very exciting. Now, we've got the full support of the board of governors."
Last night, two legislators were leaning toward supporting the name change.
"I'd be in favor of it, based on the information I have," said state Rep. Earline Parmon, D-Forsyth, who used to work at NCSA. Parmon said she has heard only from supporters of the change.
State Rep. Larry Womble, D-Forsyth, said, "My inclination is to be behind it. If they have enough support for it, who am I to stand in the way?"
Yesterday's vote, after brief comments by two members of the board of governors, was unanimous. No opposition was voiced at the meeting, although several members said they had received letters opposing the change.
Skip Sherman has been one of the most vocal of several hundred NCSA alumni who have opposed the change, both in an online petition on Facebook and in letters to the Winston-Salem Journal. He is also a former NCSA trustee and the father of Matt Sherman, also an NCSA alumnus who opposes the name change.
"I'm surprised at the outcome and the lack of discussion and the continued belief in the non-opposition to the process," Skip Sherman said. "It's baffling to me. It seems like it's an inside job.
"What I don't understand is why someone can't (state) the reasons for me. It's like mom and dad saying, ‘Because I said so.' That's not a good reason."
Pulitzer said that the board did get feedback.
"We've engaged them all along," Pulitzer said before Sherman's comments, referring to the opponents. "We've been responsive. We will continue to be engaged with them on this and other issues, and we value them as alumni of the school."
The name change would tie NCSA more closely to the UNC system, of which NCSA is one of 16 schools. Supporters say that the change would make the school better known, help with recruiting, raise its stock with donors and clear up confusion among people who think that NCSA is just a high school. NCSA is both a high school and a university.
But opponents say that the name change would dishonor the school's reputation and history, and that it would weaken an established brand. They also say that the idea was poorly researched and has no financial muscle behind it to promote the new name.
Sherman and others had asked the board of governors to defer action, suggesting that the process for changing the name was moving too fast.
The board of governors said yesterday that its public-affairs committee has agreed to ask the General Assembly to modify its legislative agenda to take up the change during the next legislative session -- but only with the support of the board of governors.
Frank A. Daniels Jr., a member of the board of governors, said he can understand name-change opponents who say that "we're going too fast."
"If we don't take this action today, it probably can't be considered by the legislature in this session," Daniels said, asking that his remarks be entered into the meeting's minutes. "That's the reason for moving ahead right now."
John W. Davis III, a member of the board of governors from Winston-Salem, is the chairman of the board's committee on university governance, which voted unanimously on Thursday to send the name-change proposal to the full board yesterday. He also said that the school's culture would not change.
"I appreciate their passion, but frankly, I believe them to be wrong," he said, reflecting on the opposition's views. "I think the benefits far outweigh the liability of having the ‘U' in front of NCSA…. The national recognition that it brings to the School of the Arts is tremendous. The biggest problem the School of the Arts has is that there are hundreds (of these schools) around the United States. And many of them are (high-school) magnet schools."
■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
See community events or add your own! Click here!
Advertisement
