University of North Carolina (1793-1962). Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees, elected by the North Carolina General Assembly, was the governing body of the University of North Carolina from its chartering in 1789 until 1932, when the Consolidated University of North Carolina system was created.

This forty-member board, elected by the North Carolina General Assembly, was the governing body of the University of North Carolina from its chartering in 1789 until 1932, when the Consolidated University system was created.

The charter of the University of North Carolina, ratified by the state's General Assembly in 1789, named forty men to serve as Trustees of the new institution. The primary responsibility of the Trustees, according to the charter, was to handle all monies, goods, and chattels. . . and Land, Rents, and Hereditaments for the Use and Purposes of establishing and endowing the University. The duties and structure of this Board of Trustees remained essentially the same until 1932, although the method of selection varied somewhat and the membership increased as the state and University grew. Until 1868 appointments to the Board were for life. The state Constitution of that year set terms at eight years and established the practice of selecting one Trustee from each county plus certain ex officio members. From 1868 to 1873, the State Board of Education selected the Trustees; thereafter, they were selected by joint ballot of the General Assembly.

On March 27, 1931, the General Assembly passed the Act of Consolidation, creating the Consolidated University of NorthCarolina, a system comprised of three previously separate institutions--the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering, and the North Carolina College for Women. It also appointed a new Board of Trustees of one-hundred members (at least ten of whom were to be women) to serve as the governing body of the new system beginning July 1, 1932. The pre-Consolidation Boards of Trustees of the individual institutions were discontinued. Though many of the members of the Consolidated Board had previously been Trustees of one of the constituent schools, their purpose was now to promote the interests of the University system.