History on hold: University pauses the History Task Force work including Silent Sam

Four years ago it wasn’t Silent Sam in protestors’ crosshairs, it was Saunders Hall. 

In May 2015, after many conversations with UNC students and stakeholders, as well as outside experts, the Board of Trustees voted to change the name of Saunders Hall to Carolina Hall. Saunders Hall was named for William Saunders, a UNC trustee and head of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina.

Following up on the decision, former Chancellor Carol Folt appointed a task force charged with “curating and teaching a full and accurate history of UNC-Chapel Hill.” 

The Chancellor’s Task Force on UNC-Chapel Hill History then set out on a number of projects. It developed a strategy to contextualize McCorkle Place. It opened a permanent exhibit inside Carolina Hall to teach about the University and buildings complicated history. It worked on a plan to enhance the Unsung Founders memorial. 

Now it’s been put on pause.

Interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said the task force is currently inactive as he game-plans its future. 

"We’ve already had a few meetings regarding this and I’m preparing to make an announcement in probably August, September," Guskiewicz said, "where we will bring some version of that committee back in maybe a commission looking at our history."