Editor’s note: following are letters to the Carolina community from former Chancellor James Moeser and his successor, Holden Thorp.
Out with the old
Dear Members of the Carolina Faculty and Staff:
As the curtain is about to close on my tenure as chancellor, one of my hardest tasks is to find a suitable way to acknowledge all of the good wishes and thoughtful observations that so many of you have shared with me about the last eight years.
Together we have accomplished a great deal during that time, from the physical transformation of the campus through a record-setting private fund-raising campaign, from improving faculty resources to bettering educational opportunities. Through it all we have affirmed our status as a proudly-public university and kept our commitment to the people of the state of North Carolina.
Every person who works at Carolina has a role in making us one of the nation’s finest universities. One of the very first things that we noticed when Susan and I arrived was the pride and care that people on campus had for this University, and how everyone participated in creating that very special culture that we call the Carolina Way.
Working together we have preserved that culture and taken the University to new levels of achievement and prestige in the world.
We have celebrated our successes, cheered our students as they graduated and come together in times of trouble to support one another. I am proud to call you colleagues and to know that even after I’m no longer chancellor, you will remain my colleagues as I join the faculty. Thanks to your efforts, I will continue to work at one of the nation’s finest universities. I can imagine no better future.
Thank you for making Susan and me a part of the Carolina family. While we are looking forward to some time away from Chapel Hill, we are also looking forward even more to our return. Thomas Wolfe was wrong; you can go home again.
“Hail to the brightest star of all.†And farewell.
James Moeser
In with the new
Dear Carolina Students, Faculty and Staff:
Today is my first day as your new chancellor, and – as you’ve heard me say before – I’m thrilled to have the best job in American higher education. Patti and I so appreciate the kind e-mails, notes and letters that we received from so many of you since my election in May.
Your encouragement and confidence inspire us as we prepare for our new duties.
We all wish James and Susan Moeser the very best during their year away on leave. I look forward to the energy that James will bring to his new duties as a faculty member and fellow at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities when he returns to campus next year. He has been an extraordinary leader for the University and a wonderful mentor to me.
Today I’m having breakfast with a group of student leaders organized by Student Body President J.J. Raynor, convening the Chancellor’s Cabinet, and meeting with Faculty Chair Joe Templeton and Employee Forum Chair Tommy Griffin. This week, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Bernadette Gray-Little and I will launch a series of meetings with our deans as part of a process to help me listen to the University’s academic leaders and faculty discuss Carolina’s future. I plan to ask a
lot of questions and seek advice about what’s best for our future.
I’m excited about the opportunity to help make a great university -America’s first public university – even better. I look forward to sharing my thoughts about those prospects during my installation address in October.
Thanks again for all of your support.
Holden Thorp