RALEIGH — Gov. Pat McCrory’s spokesman confirmed Tuesday afternoon that the governor met with “a candidate” for president of the UNC system at the governor’s mansion. This news, in an email to Carolina Journal, came just as the UNC system released an agenda showing that the new president will be named at 11 a.m. Friday.
Sources told CJ the meeting at the Executive Mansion took place while the Board of Governors was in closed session during which former U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings — widely reported to be the only candidate for the position — was being interviewed by the board’s selection committee. Spellings left the meeting along with the board’s chairman, attorney John Fennebresque, sources said.
The statement from the governor’s office sent to CJ came from spokesman Josh Ellis:
“Governor McCrory graciously and proudly welcomed a potential candidate to North Carolina at the governor’s mansion. They had a wonderful conversation about the interactions between the governor’s office and the university system with regard to technology and research development, job recruitment, and the Education Cabinet which the governor chairs. The governor has confidence the UNC Board of Governors, which are entirely hand-picked by the state legislature, will select a great candidate to oversee our excellent university system.”
WRAL News reported Tuesday that the UNC system released agendas for a Personnel and Tenure Committee on Thursday to review terms for hiring a “public officer” to be followed by a meeting of the full board on Friday.