The University of North Carolina has appointed a new commission to look at campus policing. The school has also hired an outside consultant to review recent incidents, many of them involving the Confederate statue known as Silent Sam.
UNC interim Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz says the purpose of the Campus Safety Commission is to improve “equity and inclusion on campus, while working to eradicate racism, extremism, and all forms of hate.”
The News and Observer reports the commission is made up of faculty members, students, a minister, a former Chapel Hill police chief, and others.
But some students and faculty questioned how effective the commission and consultant would be, with one student organizer calling it a “public relations move.”
The UNC campus in Chapel Hill has seen a number of incidents related to Silent Sam, including several protests leading up to the toppling of the statue last August. That episode generated a range of complaints about the campus police department.