Chris Clemens, ex-UNC provost, files motion to stop school from deleting messages

Former UNC-Chapel Hill provost Chris Clemens has filed a motion demanding court intervention to stop the university from alleged ongoing destruction of evidence related to public business conducted secretly on the app Signal, according to documents obtained by The News & Observer on Wednesday afternoon.

Signal is an encrypted and secure messaging platform that advertises itself as “a messaging app with privacy at its core.” Clemens, the plaintiff, filed the motion in Orange County Superior Court on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, after speaking to a First Amendment Day on UNC’s campus, Clemens told the N&O “it’s absolutely the case” that campus leadership discussed tenure in a closed session, therefore circumventing open meetings and public records law.

Clemens’ motion on Wednesday petitions for “relief to prevent ongoing and irreparable spoliation of evidence,” and asks for court intervention to stop alleged “destruction of evidence through Signal’s auto-delete feature and routine deletion of text messages that document illegal meetings and violations of North Carolina’s transparency laws,” by UNC leadership.

Without action, the evidence of “deliberate circumvention” on the part of university leadership will be “permanently lost,” the motion reads.

This comes roughly two weeks after Clemens sued the university and its Board of Trustees for alleged violations of North Carolina’s open meetings and public records law. This new motion is part of that lawsuit.

That lawsuit, among other allegations, accused the board of “systematically hiding matters of grave public concern behind closed doors;” conducting deliberations over text messages without giving proper notice or access to the public; and “deliberately communicating” about public business on platforms (like Signal) that automatically delete messages in order to “evade records retention and public inspection.”

The same lawsuit also alleged the hiring of UNC football coach Bill Belichick occurred in an illegal closed session, one of several closed session violations pertaining to athletics.

On Thursday, UNC submitted a statement to the News & Observer from Paul Newton, the school’s general counsel, regarding Clemens’ latest legal action.

“It’s clear the plaintiff’s motion was filed primarily to generate media attention and not based on legal merit,” Newton said. “We remain confident in our position and look forward to presenting a substantive defense.”

What the motion alleges

The motion alleges, among other accusations, the following:

• Jed Atkins, dean and director of UNC’s School of Civic Life and Leadership, relayed an internal briefing on a March 20, 2025 closed session violation to then-BOT chair John Preyer through Signal using its auto-delete ephemeral message feature.

• Following Atkins’ Signal message, Preyer “contacted sufficient trustees through text messages to constitute a Board majority for purposes of deliberating about and building consensus for a vote of no confidence” in Clemens without public notice, public access, or minutes required by the Open Meetings Law.

• Atkins’ use of Signal’s auto-delete function in this instance was “not isolated or accidental.” Atkins “institutionalized the use of disappearing messages by requiring his leadership team to subscribe to a Signal group.” He conducted “a substantial portion of official communications via Signal with auto-delete enabled — not only in exchanges with trustees but as a routine practice.”

• On information and belief, UNC trustees and senior staff have relied repeatedly on off-channel, auto-deleting communications such as Signal to “discuss controversial or consequential Board matters, while simultaneously routing policy debates into closed session.”

• Preyer and “possibly other Board members” maintain the idea that “messages on personal devices may be deleted regardless of content. Preyer, in particular, routinely deletes iMessages involving University business. Other Board members do the same, “on information and belief.”

As reported by the N&O in September, sources with knowledge of the situation said the former provost has used Signal himself. Screenshots obtained and reviewed by the N&O appeared to show Clemens doing so this year to discuss university business with the app’s auto-delete function on.

“The Signal app by itself is not problematic any more than WhatsApp,” Clemens told the N&O Wednesday. “It’s the auto-delete feature... and I have never turned it on.”

This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 4:05 PM.