Political meddling caused a COVID mess at UNC-CH. Other campuses may be next.

Kevin Guskiewicz, chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, appeared on the CBS news show “60 Minutes” in June to discuss the university’s plan to bring thousands of undergraduates back to campus amid a pandemic. “There certainly is some risk,” he said, “but we believe we’re putting in place the right measures to mitigate that risk.”

It was a plan as ambitious as it was naive. Only a week into the start of the school year, Guskiewicz – confronted with clusters of coronavirus infections in student residence halls and a rising mutiny among faculty – on Monday announced that most students living on campus would be sent home and the rest of the fall semester would be conducted with remote instruction.

The chancellor is the face of the decision, but it was the UNC Board of Governors that is to blame for the turmoil caused by the abrupt reversal. The Board of Governors – a panel elected by the Republican-led General Assembly – has insisted that the system’s 17 campuses bring students back, despite concerns by many faculty members, students and public health experts.

The board has pushed for a return to normalcy on campus in keeping with the reckless views of President Trump, who wants schools at all levels reopened for in-person instruction. Taking a more cautious path at UNC-CH would have been an affront to that effort. Indeed, even as UNC-CH was sending students home, Senate leader Phil Berger appeared at Mt. Airy High School on Monday to praise the school for opening with in-person classes.

The return-to-normal dictate was reinforced by the board’s position that if campuses switch to all-remote learning, tuition and fees will not be changed or refunded. In addition, campuses cannot expect increased aid to cover their pandemic related losses. The board has asked all chancellors to submit contingency plans for how their campuses would operate if their budgets are cut up to 50 percent.

Now the pressure turns to Berger, the Board of Governors and UNC System President Peter Hans about what should be done as COVID cases arise on the system’s other campuses. Some may safely stay open if the incidence is low, but the decision should be made by campus leaders. It shouldn’t be shaped by the Board of Governors members or legislators trying to downplay a public health crisis created by Trump’s botched handling of the pandemic.

As testing reveals COVID infections on other campuses, it’s essential that the emphasis be on transparency. Students, faculty, staff and parents should be told the extent of infections, and what is being done to contain the spread. The issue of refunds for housing, tuition and other costs also needs to be reconsidered.

In his “60 Minutes” interview, the chancellor anticipated the exit he took Monday. “We’ll look for clusters,” he said. “If there was a cluster of positive cases, that would potentially create an off ramp for us and we could pivot back to a remote learning environment.”

So he pivoted. But not before parents were put through bringing their children to campus only to have them return a week later.

Meanwhile, even with UNC-CH’s residence halls becoming largely empty, thousands of students are living off-campus and now unable to break their leases. Those students will stay in the Chapel Hill area. If their social activities continue to spread the virus, local residents will face a growing risk. Other UNC campus towns may soon have the same concern.

The decision to abandon in-person instruction at Chapel Hill was embarrassing, but necessary. The confusion and bitterness it has caused is yet another example of how the politicization of the state’s university system has put ideology ahead of its mission to serve all of North Carolina.

This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 3:21 PM.