Ideology vs. academics

It’s quite ironic that the UNC Board of Governors recommended the closing of the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity due to the audacity of director and law professor Gene Nichol.

Board members have said the poverty center “engages in political activity and political bias” when the true political bias and agenda are being set by the Board of Governors members themselves; bias against academic freedom, integrity of research and shedding light on the imperative to fight social and economic injustice for all in our state.

As if ignoring the staggering statistics related to poverty and the multiple vulnerabilities of the most disenfranchised in our state were not egregious enough, this closure adds insult to injury.

By keeping our state’s flagship university from housing a center that addresses North Carolina’s greatest challenge, eliminating poverty, we have let political ideology and bias erode the very purpose of academic pursuit.

This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Ideology vs. academics."