UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees member John Preyer resigned Friday with a year left in his term, after a stint as chair that, at times, was marked by questions about whether he and other board members had overstepped their authority.
“I’ve never felt better about the direction of the University and its leadership and am lucky to have played a small role in helping make it the #1 public university in the world,” Preyer wrote in his resignation letter. The letter, obtained by The Assembly, was addressed to Chris McClure, the board’s secretary and a senior staffer at the university.
Preyer did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
A UNC-CH alumnus, Preyer joined the board in 2019 and became its chair in 2023, succeeding Dave Boliek. Preyer’s current term on the board was set to expire in 2027.
Both Boliek, who now serves as state auditor, and Preyer have touted the board’s role in revamping the university’s approach to its budget. They also championed the new School of Civic Life and Leadership, directing the university to accelerate the development of a program that has been supported by Republicans in the state legislature.
The move to fast-track the new school drew criticism from some professors, who argued it went against the traditional model of shared governance at the university, which generally puts faculty in charge of curricular matters.
Trustee Marty Kotis said in a statement to The Assembly that Preyer “was a big part of the reforms at UNC” and was “instrumental” in launching the school.
“He was a great leader who was willing to tackle tough issues and take decisive executive action,” Kotis wrote. “He empowered others to drive needed change—he’ll be sorely missed.”
But the board under Preyer’s leadership also ran into conflict with the UNC System. In a January 2024 memo addressed to Preyer and UNC-CH Chancellor Lee Roberts, UNC System President Peter Hans stripped the board of some of its powers related to personnel matters at the university and emphasized that the trustees serve in an advisory capacity to UNC-CH administrators. Preyer said at the time that he viewed the change as an “administrative, housekeeping thing” and that he believed the trustees had a positive relationship with the system Board of Governors.
The hiring of football coach Bill Belichick in 2024 made Preyer a household name for many of the Tar Heel faithful.
As rumors swirled that UNC-CH was pursuing Belichick, The Athletic reported that Preyer—who had been critical of athletic director Bubba Cunningham and his department on multiple occasions that year—had offered the job to the former NFL coach, complicating a search that was described by other outlets as “fractured” and “scattered.” Preyer told WRAL-TV in a documentary that aired last month that he took a call with Belichick “to determine whether or not” the coach was interested in the job.
About a month after the university made Belichick’s hire official, Hans sent another memo to Preyer—this time stripping the trustees of some of their authority over athletic matters. Per the document, first reported by The Assembly, Hans said he would sign off first on any athletic contracts needing approval by trustees, and he said trustees shouldn’t “play any role in negotiation of such actions.”
“Instances continue to occur where members of the board appear to act independently of their campus’s administration in matters squarely within the responsibility of the chancellor,” Hans wrote.
Also in 2024, public records revealed that Preyer was one of several trustees who asked senior staff for information on specific students seeking admission to the university.
The UNC-CH board has 15 members: eight elected by the Board of Governors, six elected by the General Assembly, and the student body president. Preyer was elected by the Board of Governors for his current term, meaning that body will be tasked with appointing his replacement.
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