UNC-Chapel Hill spent roughly $1.2 million on an outside investigation into its School of Civic Life and Leadership, then decided the campus community would not get to see what the lawyers found. The review, led by the law firm K&L Gates and focused on a school that opened under heavy scrutiny in 2024, has wrapped up. University officials now say the full report will stay under wraps, a move that is cranking up long-running questions about transparency as faculty critics keep pressing for details.
Cost and contractor
The university says the independent review cost about $1.2 million and was paid from UNC’s endowment rather than state funds, according to The News & Observer. The North State Journal reported similar figures and noted the review wrapped up after roughly seven months of work.
Why the university is keeping the report private
UNC General Counsel Paul Newton said the university would withhold the firm's findings to avoid potential harm or embarrassment to interview subjects, to preserve attorney-client protections and to guard university culture, according to WRAL. University leaders have described the process as thorough and say any necessary corrective steps will be handled internally, without publishing the full report.
Scope of the review
The outside team reportedly reviewed hundreds of thousands of documents and conducted more than 50 interviews, and faculty members who saw updates say the resulting report runs more than 400 pages. The Assembly reported the firm met with nearly anyone who wanted to share a perspective about SCiLL during its work.
Faculty turmoil that prompted scrutiny
The review grew out of sustained internal conflict. Associate dean Inger Brodey resigned in 2025, and associate dean David Decosimo was later removed from his administrative role amid accusations about hiring and governance. Reporting from Inside Higher Ed and The Daily Tar Heel details multiple resignations and advisory-board departures tied to disputes over faculty searches and shared governance.
Legal questions and transparency
Some open-government attorneys say UNC could legally release nonconfidential portions of the report even if personnel information is redacted. As Duke University First Amendment Clinic supervising attorney Amanda Martin told The Assembly, "the statute is clear that an agency has an obligation to produce nonconfidential information even when it is co-mingled with confidential information." The Reporters Committee's open-government guide for North Carolina likewise notes state law requires agencies to provide access to nonconfidential records and that exemptions are narrowly construed.
What's next for SCiLL
UNC leaders and the Board of Trustees say they remain confident in SCiLL’s leadership but have not disclosed specific personnel changes tied to the review, according to reporting. The school has continued hiring, expanded course offerings and recently secured major grant support, but critics argue that keeping the full report under wraps leaves key questions unanswered about governance and hiring practices.
