Deadline extended for UNC officials’ plan for ‘Silent Sam’

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Trustees at North Carolina’s flagship university will have more time to propose what to do with a torn-down Confederate statue.

News outlets report that the University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors agreed Friday to postpone the Nov. 15 deadline for UNC-Chapel Hill’s leaders to develop a plan for the “Silent Sam” statue. Protesters toppled the 105-year-old bronze statue of a Confederate soldier in August. It is stored at a secret location.

No new deadline was announced, but officials say it will be before the Dec. 14 Board of Governors meeting.

Board Chairman Harry Smith called the request for more time to consider options “fair,” saying the issue is “more complex than any of us thought.” He says the board wouldn’t have addressed the issue before that meeting anyhow.