Free Republic

The chief of the police force in Chapel Hill, N.C. ordered officers to stand down as protestors toppled a Confederate monument at the University of North Carolina, according to a report from local station WRAL News. “Let’s give them space,” Police Chief Chris Blue reportedly texted at 9 p.m. on the night of Aug. 20 as protesters gathered around the statue known as "Silent Sam," representing a Confederate soldier. Moments later he wrote, “Yes but do not engage w Crowd at statue. Stay way out.” The statue fell at about 9:30 p.m. Shortly after, the police began to form a...

‘We will not allow anarchy to reign on our campuses’ The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will re-install a toppled monument to a Confederate soldier on its campus, a decision the university announced several days after a shrieking mob tore it down from its pedestal and vandalized it. The decision was announced by Thom Goolsby, a member of the university’s Board of Governors, who said that the monument will be reinstated as required by state law, according to the news website Wavy.com. “Criminals who destroyed state property at UNC and police who did nothing will be held accountable,”...

Videos @ link Police had arrested seven people by early Saturday afternoon, as protesters clashed at UNC-Chapel Hill five days after the toppling of the Silent Sam Confederate monument. In a media conference call later in the day, UNC Chancellor Carol Folt said she won’t be rushed into a decision about what happens next to Silent Sam. She has to keep an “eye on safety, preparing for events and identifying a sustainable solution,” Folt said. “I think we need to really look into that,” she said. “We’ve just had a lot of new information when the Historical Commission looked at...

A board member at the University of North Carolina is calling for a Confederate statue to be promptly reinstalled on the Chapel Hill campus after it was toppled by protesters earlier this month. Citing state law on monuments and memorials, UNC Board of Governors member Thom Goolsby said in a YouTube video that the well-known “Silent Sam” monument will be placed back on campus within 90 days.“A statue was torn down by a violent mob and the police stood by and did nothing as that happened,” Goolsby said of the Aug. 20 incident. He said that the university’s board is...

It’s not our fault police did nothing “We do not support lawlessness.” The University of North Carolina is promising to “use the full breadth of state and University processes to hold those responsible accountable” for toppling the “Silent Sam” statue Monday night. Protesters at the destruction of the Confederate war memorial included students and professors, according to news reports. They had been agitating for its destruction for years, but grew especially incensed after the administration said it couldn’t remove the 105-year-old statue because of state law. A letter claiming to represent 17 UNC professors threatened to remove the statue themselves...

For the biology-challenged NCAA, you can take the tournaments out of North Carolina but the best college basketball programs in America still call Tobacco Road home.

Dean Smith, the coaching innovator who won two national championships at North Carolina, an Olympic gold medal in 1976 and induction into basketball's Hall of Fame more than a decade before he left the bench, has died. He was 83. The retired coach died "peacefully" at his North Carolina home Saturday night, the school said in a statement Sunday from Smith's family. He was with his wife and five children. Smith had health issues in recent years, with the family saying in 2010 he had a condition that was causing him to lose memory. He had kept a lower profile...

A university learning specialist has received death threats and hateful messages after she exposed shockingly low academic levels among revenue athletes the University of North Carolina. Mary Willingham found that between eight and ten per cent of college’s football and basketball players had a reading level of a third grader. By studying eight years of test scores from University of Carolina’s revenue sports players, she found that a majority had a reading level between fourth and eighth grade. ‘We may as well go over to the elementary school up the street and let the fourth-graders and third-graders in here,’ she...

(CNN) -- Early in her career as a learning specialist, Mary Willingham was in her office when a basketball player at the University of North Carolina walked in looking for help with his classwork. He couldn't read or write. "And I kind of panicked. What do you do with that?" she said, recalling the meeting. Willingham's job was to help athletes who weren't quite ready academically for the work required at UNC at Chapel Hill, one of the country's top public universities. But she was shocked that one couldn't read. And then she found he was not an anomaly. Soon,...

Ask any resident of North Carolina draped in baby blue if they would like a chance to play hoops with their beloved Tar Heels, and almost all of them would put it on their bucket list. Many Carolinians got that wish yesterday as members of the Elite 8 squad played pick-up games with students and fans at the campus' Cobb Court. While a few had moments of glory, and most were thoroughly dominated, one little man stole the show. Meet Addis Cone, eight-years-old, of Morris Grove Elementary

Spartans, UNC to play on an aircraft carrierBy Reporter, Deseret News Published: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 12:11 a.m. MDT SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Sports Commission has confirmed that Michigan State and North Carolina will play in the Carrier Classic on Veterans Day, the first NCAA basketball game to be played aboard an aircraft carrier. The commission, working with Morale Entertainment Foundation, says it has received written commitments from the two schools and that approval from the U.S. Navy is expected soon. Organizers haven't announced which aircraft carrier will host the Nov. 11 game.

I will never forget the first time I paid a player. There are moments you will always remember, like your first kiss or your first home run or the day you met your wife. For me, the first time I broke an NCAA rule to try to land a client is just as indelible. It was before the 1990 football season, and I flew from Los Angeles to Denver and drove to the University of Colorado to try to meet with Kanavis McGhee. He was a big, pass-rushing linebacker who was expected to be a high pick in the 1991...

Kay Yow accomplished most everything a women's basketball coach could dream. Over a 37-year career that included 34 seasons with North Carolina State, she compiled 737 victories, leading the Wolfpack to 20 NCAA tournament bids, 11 Sweet 16 appearances, and a Final Four in 1998. Outside the college ranks, she coached the 1988 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in Seoul, Korea. But with her passing at the age of 66 last month, after more than two decades fighting breast cancer, Yow pointed her friends and well-wishers to look beyond basketball. In a video she'd recorded four years earlier...

In an election for President of the United States in North Carolina Tuesday, Republican John McCain suddenly and breathtakingly surges to a 20-point win over Democrat Barack Obama, 58% to 38%, according to this latest exclusive SurveyUSA election poll conducted for ABC11-WTVD.

North Carolina beat Clemson 86-81 for a record 17th Atlantic Coast Conference title.

This week's reader: Anthony Violi, Carrollton, Texas. Favorite Radiators song: "Deep in my Voodoo" Featured game: No. 13 North Carolina at No. 1 Duke, Saturday, 9 p.m. ET My best friend, Evan, who is a North Carolina graduate, called me first thing on Thursday morning. Being a Duke grad myself, I normally wouldn't take calls from the Carolina folks this week (especially pre-coffee). But I married Evan's cousin, so I kind of had to answer the phone. "Did you ever guess," Evan wanted to know, "that North Carolina would be this good?" Actually, no. Neither did Evan. Neither did anybody...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Authorities say 23-year-old Mohammed Reza Taheriazar drove a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee drove into The Pit at the UNC-Chapel Hill campus around noon Friday, injuring five students and a visiting scholar.

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should...