UNC picks director and dean for School of Civic Life and Leadership

Jed Atkins is a professor of classical studies at Duke, and director of Duke's Civil Discourse Project. He'll now be the director and dean of the school of Civic Life and Leadership.

The Board of Trustees gathered inside the South Building Friday afternoon. It was a unanimous vote for Atkins and trustees said they're ready to get this school off the ground.

"The candidate who we selected today, Jed Atkins, is a true superstar," Preyer said. "In what's an increasingly polarized world, here is an opportunity to put balance and order and civility back into our everyday lives."

"No one should feel like they have to bury their ideological point of view particularly at a great institution like UNC-Chapel Hill," Boliek said.

The school has been controversial, with some faculty pushing back on the idea that there isn't already balance on campus. It's been in the works since early last year.

The Board of Trustees proposed the school in January, and by September, the Provost and North Carolina General Assembly had established it.

Nine inaugural faculty members were announced in October. In January of 2024, four finalists to lead the new school visited campus.

On Friday, in addition to that new dean, the school announced it will offer a new minor.