UNCs Holden Thorp: JUST LET HIM GO!

In the latest development that UNC’s Board of Trustee’s have asked Holden Thorp to reconsider his resignation UNC has sunk to an all time low. When Thorp announced his resignation early this week I thought for sure he had been forced out. I mean this is a man that has been sitting in the drivers seat for what has been one of the
ugliest 3 year stretches for not only the UNC Athletic Department but for the University in general. Forced out, apparently not, just another in a long line of bad decisions at UNC.

Sep 8, 2012; Winston Salem, NC, USA A North Carolina Tar Heels helmet lays on the field during the warms ups before the start of the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at BB

Thorp is leaving on his own because he knows what even the BOT can’t see, with him in his current position UNC will never be able to fully recover. He probably also knows that a ton of the blame falls squarely on his shoulders. Fact is he shouldn’t have lasted any longer than former Athletic Director Dick Baddour. This is a man that was in charge of the very department where the entire academic scandal has ballooned out of. You could make an argument Thorp is more to blame than Butch Davis for UNC’s current situation. That isn’t an argument I will make but it is one that is certainly not crazy. The BOT asking Thorp to reconsider his resignation feels to me like the board is trying to ruin UNC. This call comes a week after all of the Tami Hansbrough travel expenses have come out and it just so happens Thorp may have been on some of those flights.

It is clear to me that Thorp must go and should have gone a long time ago. The BOT however is not only content to let him stay on until the summer but also want him to stay on permanently. I lost confidence that Thorp could handle his current position at UNC in the summer of 2010. I am sure many out there felt the same way I did that
summer. Those feelings that never subsided for me probably never subsided many in the UNC community. Unfortunately what has happened with the BOT is worse. I have now lost confidence in the BOT’s ability to handle the positions in which they currently sit. In Thorp’s time at UNC more shame has come over the University then in the 213 years before him. Shame that has made people question the University and the degrees which I and thousands of other alums cherish. Even with all this the BOT thinks Thorp is still the man for the job.

To Thorp’s credit he finally figured out that the job was too big for him. Bottom line it is a job for a CEO not a job for a chemistry professor. The people whom are charged to make sure UNC remains the great place it is still seem to be lost and clueless. This sheds even more light on why the myriad of situations at UNC have been handled so poorly. I believe it is in everyones best interest for Thorp to move on from UNC completely not just go back to the chemistry department.

His continued presence at UNC will be a constant reminder of the scandal that will define his time as chancellor.THE BOARD HOWEVER WANTS HIM TO STAY?!?!?! Not only does Thorp need to go but some serious conversations need to be had about whether the current BOT members deserve the positions in which they currently sit. Maybe just maybe the problem goes even higher than Holden Thorp.