CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees met in a special session Tuesday to figure out what’s next for Silent Sam.
The closed-door discussion lasted more than four hours. Since the Confederate statue's illegal removal last week, police arrested 11 people in relation to protests.
"We know that the monument has been divisive for a long time, but what happened on Monday was wrong,” said UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor, Carol Folt.
School officials stored the statue in a secret location for the time being.
"It has also brought the eyes of the nation on us and that, of course, is adding urgency to our own determination to find a lawful and lasting path that will protect the public, protect the monument and allow us to return to what we are doing right now,” Folt added.
Students and faculty demanded the statue stay off campus, but North Carolina general statute 100-2.1 required it to be returned within 90 days of its removal unless the historic commission says otherwise.
"We will make sure that the laws of our state are enforced,” said former state senator Thom Goolsby, a Wilmington member of the UNC Board of Governors.
Chancellor Folt and the board of trustees were directed to develop a plan for the statue's "disposition and preservation." The deadline was November 15.
Silent Sam stood on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus since 1913.