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BSIS student serves as "Chancellor for a day"
Sept. 28, 2009 - It was by no means easy—but he did it. Last spring, Garnett Matney, School of Information and Library Science (SILS) undergraduate student, had to take off more than 30 articles of clothing while sprinting wildly alongside other contestants in the first ever “Chancellor’s Chase” in order to claim his lofty prize: a day spent alongside Chancellor Holden Thorp.
The “Chase” Matney won was part of a clothing-drive benefit put on by the Order of the Bell Tower (OBT), the first event of its kind on campus.
“Order of the Bell Tower developed an event to shed light on our organization and engage the UNC community with a philanthropic endeavor that is uniquely ours," said Morgan Redd, Order of the Bell Tower Public Relations chair. "The 'Chancellor's Chase' grants one giving student the invaluable opportunity to be chancellor for a day. OBT are the official ambassadors of UNC and have recently adopted the role of tradition keepers. 'Chancellor's Chase' is an event that OBT is proud of, and we look forward to its growth and development into a new tradition on campus."
Matney and his fellow students were encouraged to wear their own donated clothes for the race, taking them off as they tumbled toward the finish line. A point system was used to calculate the winner, based on both running ability (7 points for winning the race) and clothing shed (shoes, for example, carried a weight of 10 points).
Matney’s final score of over 100 points made him the clear winner. He donated, impressively, over 30 articles of clothing to the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service in Chapel Hill—which redistributed the clothes to needy town residents after the race.
"The run was certainly something interesting to explain," said Matney. "I wasn't exactly stripping for charity, but it could be interpreted that way."
During his day as chancellor, Matney had the opportunity to accompany Chancellor Thorp to several important events, including: a seminar for research universities, a guest appearance by the chancellor on the "Town and Talk" radio show and an event celebrating the opening of the new Boshamer Baseball Stadium among other meetings and events. When asked to describe his experiences that day, Matney called them "rewarding" and was quick to point out how impressed he was with Chancellor Thorp's communication skills - particularly when the chancellor addressed large groups - calling Thorp "an amazingly efficient and quick speaker."
At one point in the day, Matney was at Chancellor Thorp's side when the two were approached by a group of students protesting the Youth for Western Civilization's Tom Tancredo event. The students were upset with the way fellow protesters were being treated by police. Matney looked on as Chancellor Thorp calmly diffused the tension, explaining why the protesters' behavior was, in the context of a free and public event, rude and unacceptable.
"When I was a student at Carolina, I couldn't tell you how the chancellor spent his day," said Chancellor Thorp. "So it's great to have a student tag along with me and see what a chancellor does."
When asked if he would like to become the University's chancellor himself one day, Matney declined the prospect. "I don't think I come close to matching the energy and mental capacity that Chancellor Thorp has. He has a very rigorous schedule [and has to be] extraordinarily assertive and wise."
Matney is a senior in the BSIS Program. After graduation, he plans to attend law school.