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The speech, in many ways, was unprecedented.
As far as anyone can tell, no Carolina chancellor has ever given "The State of
the University" address.
That has changed with James Moeser.
Moeser gave such a speech Sept. 5 in the Great Hall of the Frank Porter Graham
Student Union, where a packed house of faculty, staff and students gathered to
hear Moeser assess where Carolina stands and where he believes the campus
should go.
The speech ran for more than 30 minutes, a length long enough to cover a range
of issues, from the implications of the state's overdue budget to the challenge
of the major fund-raising drive that will kick into high gear next month.
And, in the minds of some faculty and staff, the speech was an idea long
overdue.
People who heard it not only liked what Moeser had to say, but applauded the
fact he wanted to say it directly to them.
Among those who gave the chancellor high marks on both counts was Holden Thorp,
the chemistry professor who Moeser cited in the speech as a leader in research
and technology transfer.
"I think it was the right idea," Thorp said. "People want to understand what is
going on and they want to hear it from the guy who's in charge. There is a lot
of speculation that goes on, and this is a way to put that to rest. I think
that's good."
At the same time, Thorp was particularly struck by the passage in which Moeser
challenged the University to "be both a conservator of culture and values, and
a leader of change, both for ourselves and the larger society."
"That is the gestalt that we are pursuing," Thorp said.
Tiffany Clarke, the business manager for the information technology office in
the School of Public Health, liked it, too. She listened to the speech with Jim
Murphy, the associate director of information technology for the school.
"I don't remember this ever being done, and I was a student here a long time
ago," Clarke said. The long time turned out to be 10 years.
"Being an employee, particularly a staff employee, I think it was a good
opportunity to get closer to what's going on at the top levels."
The development plan, the budget and Moeser's overarching vision for Carolina
were all things that Clarke was glad to learn more about. But especially the
budget. Everybody is guessing what might happen to it, and Moeser succeeded in
outlining what there is to be known about the budget and how the University
could be helped or harmed by decisions left to be made.
Clarke said she was also struck by some of the bolder statements that Moeser
made at the end of the speech when he talked about being out front on
controversial issues the way it had been when the campus fought against
McCarthyism and Jim Crow.
"I liked the speech a lot," Clarke said. "I guess it struck me that he is a
little bit more liberal than I might have thought."
She may not be sure that she agrees with getting rid of capital punishment, she
said, "but I like the idea that he is thinking about those kinds of things and
making it incumbent upon us to think about those sort of things, too."
Murphy said he was eager to hear what Moeser was thinking, too, and was
grateful for the chance to hear it directly from the source.
"If we don't hear it from the top we are left with rumors and hearsay," Murphy
said. "It's great to hear his plans and his thoughts from his own mouth."
Murphy also liked hearing Moeser's reiteration of all the innovative things
Carolina professors are doing.
"It's nice to hear about that kind of activity going on on this campus," he
said.
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