Roy Cooper gives UNC permission to remove Silent Sam

Posted Aug 21, 2017
Gov. Roy Cooper wrote a letter to UNC-System President Margaret Spellings giving the University permission to remove Silent Sam if leaders "believe there is a real risk to public safety." Cooper's letter was in response to a letter from Spellings, UNC Chancellor Carol Folt, Board of Governors Chairperson Lou Bissette, N.C. Department of Public Safety Secretary Eric Hooks and UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees Chair Haywood Cochrane. (Daily Tar Heel)

Related: Campus Connections

An Award-Winning UNC English Professor Combines Basketball With Poetry
At the basketball courts near Cobb Residence Hall, Gabrielle Calvocoressi leads a group of students in a friendly shootaround. She’s wearing a Big Bird t-shirt...
Sat Jan 31, 2026

10 ways staff kept Carolina safe during the storm
While many of us make plans to hunker down the second we see that snowflake hit our weather apps, hundreds of employees at the University...
Fri Jan 30, 2026

The multigenerational experiences of being a Tar Heel
Some parents encourage their children to attend their alma mater, while others watch them find their own path to Chapel Hill. Either way, UNC draws...
Wed Jan 28, 2026

UNC students sled, ski and play in the snow: 'The vibe is joyous out here'
In true North Carolina snow day fashion, the streets of Chapel Hill were alive with groups of people sledding on cardboard slabs, attempting to make...
Tue Jan 27, 2026