Judge denies civil rights group’s action in Silent Sam deal, but opens more questions
A Superior Court judge on Friday denied a legal motion to intervene in the $2.5 million deal that gave the N.C. Sons of Confederate Veterans ownership of the Silent Sam Confederate monument. However, he questioned the standing of the SCV and the trust included in the original settlement, keeping the issue open in court.
Judge Allen Baddour said UNC-Chapel Hill students and faculty did not prove their legal standing to intervene in the agreement. Their goal, along with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law that was representing them, was to reopen the case, stop the deal and recover the $2.5 million payment from UNC-CH for the preservation and display of the Confederate statue. The SCV also got an additional $74,999 from UNC not to display flags and banners on university campuses.
The UNC Board of Governors reached the deal with the SCV in November after negotiating behind closed doors for months. Protests and public criticism of the settlement immediately followed, even reaching the N.C. Attorney General and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.
UNC-CH also lost a $1.5 million research grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation because of the deal. Student activists and faculty say the settlement is a threat to campus safety and supports white supremacy. The Confederate group has denied that it has ties to racist or white supremacist organizations.
“The Board of Governors’ secret negotiations, lack of transparency and false statements to the court, UNC students and the public is unacceptable,” De’Ivyion Drew, a sophomore at UNC-CH who is in the case, said in a statement when they filed the motion.
“These actions violate the Board of Governor’s duties to me as a student of this university and undermine UNC’s mission,” Drew said. “The University’s agreement to give $2.5 million to the Sons of Confederate Veterans will help that group and other neo-Confederates continue to perpetuate the ahistorical and dangerous “Lost Cause” ideology. That ideology is a major obstacle to racial equity and reparative measures in our country.”
The decision of what to do with Silent Sam has been in the hands of the board for about a year. Members have been working with UNC-CH leaders to find a solution for the statue that was illegally torn down by protesters in August 2018. It’s been a difficult decision to navigate because of a 2015 state law that protects Confederate monuments from being removed from public property.
Choices the UNC System faced
In court Friday, Ripley Rand, an attorney representing the UNC System, said the Board of Governors had two choices with the monument: put it back up or make an agreement to get rid of it.
“Sometimes in life, you are presented with a hard situation where you have options, and all of the options you have are hard,” Rand said. “All of the options are painful, and there is no solution that won’t cause someone pain.”
Rand said the board was not willing to take chances on the monument being re-erected at UNC, which would endanger the lives of people in the university community. So, they reached an agreement with the SCV, a group that they argue had ownership interest and would keep Silent Sam off all UNC System campuses forever.
That settlement was approved by the court in November, but now, the judge is taking a second look and wants to have another hearing to address whether the SCV had the authority to be involved at all.
Baddour said once that issue is addressed, then there could be additional questions regarding the nature, terms and perhaps the ability of the court to have oversight or review of a trust, which holds the money for the monument.
“We all agree this is a very difficult complex issue,” said Baddour, a UNC-CH alumnus. “It is an emotional case and issue. All I can tell you all is that it’s my aim to do everything I can to get it right. That result may not be something that everyone agrees with..”
Baddour said the decision will probably not please everyone who has an opinion about this case, but asked for patience as they work through it.
UNC System General Counsel and Senior Vice President Tom Shanahan said they agree with the court’s ruling and “stand ready” to provide any additional information the court requests.
“The UNC System remains committed to protecting public safety,” Shanahan said in a statement, “and to ensuring that the monument does not return to the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.”
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 2:15 PM.
