Uncivil protest held at UNC

Really? This was supposed to be a protest in the tradition of Chapel Hill, where university students have long engaged in civil demonstrations for a host of worthy causes?

There was nothing civil about it. Four people were arrested Tuesday morning at a University of North Carolina Board of Governors meeting. The News & Observer reported that over 30 protesters attended the meeting and stood up to yell chants as the board, which oversees the UNC system, tried to do business.

When officials asked the protesters to take their seats, they sat at the board’s table and tossed name tags on the floor, banging the chair’s gavel. In addition to shouting “No justice, no peace,” the protesters also yelled profanities.

In addition to their uncivil behavior, they apparently put up signs outside the Center for School Leadership Development in Chapel Hill targeted at incoming UNC system President Margaret Spellings, who starts work in roughly a month.

Spellings has done nothing to warrant this kind of protest. Her selection, it’s true, was controversial, coming after the firing of President Tom Ross in questionable circumstances. But Spellings didn’t fire Ross, and she has been gracious in her remarks since accepting the presidency.

Protesters who cause this kind of gratuitous disruption do neither themselves nor their cause any favors.

This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Uncivil protest held at UNC."