Another Professor Leaves UNC-Chapel Hill’s Civics School

Internal conflict over hiring and retention has plagued UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Civic Life and Leadership since it was launched in 2024, and turnover has continued this summer.

Theologian and civil discourse scholar John Rose was among the first faculty members Dean Jed Atkins hired in 2024, but he will join Johns Hopkins University’s School of Government and Policy this fall. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome John Rose as a senior fellow,” said the school’s dean, William Howell. “We’re building a school committed to pluralism, partnership, and real-world results, and John’s independent thinking will be a real asset to that work.”

Rose has been one of SCiLL’s most visible professors. When reporters from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal came to Chapel Hill to profile the school early on, they sat in on Rose’s classes.

Rose and Atkins both came to UNC-CH from Duke, where Rose was the associate director of the Civil Discourse Project that Atkins ran. Rose was also involved in another Atkins-launched program called Transformative Ideas.

His new position at Hopkins is only for one year, but such temporary appointments can be a precursor to permanent moves in academia. Rose declined to comment for this story, as did a UNC-CH spokesperson.

Despite the departure, the SCiLL faculty continues to grow. Though his hire has not been publicly announced, historian Guy Chet joined the faculty this year. (SCiLL hired his wife, historian Erica Charters, last summer.) The school’s website also now lists current Republican state Sen. Michael Lee and former Democratic state Sen. Kirk deViere as senior fellows for 2026.

Atkins and SCiLL also received a vote of confidence in the state’s new budget, which included a provision limiting the provost’s authority over Atkins and reinforces his control over the school’s hiring. 

While the school was already set to become an independent academic unit in August, moving it out of its original home in the College of Arts and Sciences, legislators also included a provision requiring it to by law. The university must “establish and maintain the School of Civic Life and Leadership as a separate reporting unit,” per the budget. The school will also receive $5 million in recurring funds.