UNC leader says 'Silent Sam' won't return to Chapel Hill campus

Leaders were reticent to discuss the monument's long-term future, but Interim University of North Carolina President Dr. Bill Roper told reporters that it "will not go back on campus."

Roper is slated to leave the system this summer, though, and his replacement hasn't yet been named.

"That's where we need to focus our time," Ramsey said, "not on the monument at this time."

Roper added in a post-meeting press conference: "We're just not going to spend our time talking about the monument, because it's not what we're here for."

Among other things, Roper said Friday that the North Carolina School of Science and Math's new Morganton campus would delay its opening until 2022.

The system's search for a permanent president continues as well, with the search committee planning to meet Feb. 27 to go over candidates. Ramsey said Friday that there are "several dozen" candidates, but he wouldn't break that down by in-state, out-of-state or internal system candidates. He also said the application period hasn't closed, but it will soon.

The Board of Governors may also ask the state legislature to lift a 3 percent cap on annual student fee increases to gin up more money for construction projects. That request cleared a board committee this week, but it hasn't come yet before the full Board of Governors.

The full board voted Friday, though, to allow university campuses to use state funds to boost retirement payouts for top campus leadership. Current policy says anything beyond a 10 percent-of-salary payment must come from non-state funds without an exception from the Board of Governors. That limits what smaller universities, with smaller endowments, can do for their chancellors, board members said.

The board approved a blanket exception to that policy Friday in a unanimous vote.

Unraveling deal for 'Silent Sam' not that easy

As for Silent Sam, the monument's fate remains unclear. The Sons of Confederate Veterans will have to return the statue, and most of a planned $2.5 million trust to preserve it, back to the UNC system under a court order.

Neither Ramsey, nor Roper, would weigh in Friday on whether that law should be changed.