Appreciate this story from @franciediep on UNC Pembroke, a Native American-Serving, Non-tribal Institution in southeastern NC. This story shows *precisely* why we need federal support to prevent the type of dilemma UNCP faces. https://www.chronicle.com/article/its-plan-is-risky-its-community-is-vulnerable-and-cases-are-surging-why-is-this-university-reopening?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_1407245_nl_Academe-Today_date_20200803&cid=at&source=ams&sourceId=4216917

I'm not a UNCP expert but have studied it in my work on regional publics. And we have many students who work there. The story is accurate that the university is about as vital to its community as you can imagine. The region's future is a function of the university's fortune.

You can read about Robeson County and its challenges. In addition to poverty, it has dealt with floods from hurricanes. State neglect, racism, & climate change have created a brutal mix for the people there. UNCP is essential but, like many regional publics, not funded that way.

I will say that there have been many times when UNCP goes its own way. Does things a little differently than other institutions in the system. I've chalked this up to knowing the community they serve and being resilient after so many years of being forgotten and under-resourced.

Although I'm a big fan of system-ness in higher education, the UNC system's centralized approach to decision-making is creating definite problems. I'm not sure I understand the insistence on going online as a system-level decision. Not that UNCP would necessarily do it anyway.

An institution like UNCP is precisely why @CeciliaOrphan @Dr_AndrewK @AKHicklin and I are hard at work on our @JoyceFdn project, making a case for federal support for broadly accessible rural institutions. To make it possible to keep communities healthy and economically viable.