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BOG joins bond kickoff in Fayetteville


The UNC Board of Governors met at Fayetteville State University to hold its September meeting and to take part in the official kickoff of the Fayetteville-area campaign for the $3.1 billion bond issue for the state university and community college systems.

That campaign joined Board of Governors members with about 150 business and civic leaders, Fayetteville State and Fayetteville Technical College trustees, and campus officials for a reception and tour at Fayetteville's new Airborne and Special Operations Museum.

During the event, Board of Governors Chair Ben Ruffin, UNC President Molly Corbett Broad and Community College System President Martin Lancaster spoke of the educational and economic importance of the proposed bond package, which would support significant renovation and construction at FSU and at Fayetteville Technical Community College.

During the board's regular meeting, Public Affairs Committee Chair Jim Phillips thanked board members for their ongoing efforts to educate North Carolinians about the bonds and to promote grassroots involvement.

Phillips reported that the three national bond-rating organizations had recently confirmed North Carolina's Triple A rating, despite recent setbacks from flooding and court cases. Phillips also noted that the 2000 edition of the well-respected State of the South report makes the strongest case since the reports began for the need for substantial investment in universities and community colleges.

Broad reported that U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley had just released the federal government's latest projections of public school enrollment through the year 2010.

The report predicts North Carolina will experience the nation's third-highest rate of growth in the number of high school graduates over the next decade.

North Carolina's high school class of 2010 is expected to number about 79,000 -- a 31 percent increase over 1999. Only Nevada and Arizona are projected to experience greater rates of growth during this decade.

Broad said the national report offers objective, emphatic validation of the University's 10-year enrollment and underscores the imperative of passage of the November bond referendum.


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