N.C. Panel Votes to Oppose ACC Expansion

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - Faculty leaders at North Carolina formally have opposed the proposed expansion of the Atlantic Coast Conference.<br> <br> Ten members of the Faculty Council&#39;s executive committee on Friday unanimously voted against ACC expansion. The resolution will be sent to Chancellor James Moeser and faculty groups at other ACC schools.<br> <br> School presidents in the conference voted earlier this month to begin discussions with Big East members Miami, Boston College and Syracuse about joining their nine-team league.<br> <br> Sue Estroff, the council&#39;s chairwoman, said the university presidents and faculty athletic representatives from the nine ACC campuses shouldn&#39;t have kept the expansion plan quiet for months.<br> <br> &#34;This bothers me,&#34; Estroff said. &#34;For our sports enterprise to take us into territory where meaningful conversation cannot happen is problematic.&#34;<br> <br> Estroff cited an e-mail she received this past week from an ACC faculty representative at Duke. The message said conference expansion began to be discussed in detail by the league last fall.<br> <br> The council called on university presidents to halt negotiations until faculty are more involved in the process.<br> <br> Adding the more distant Big East schools to the conference will mean extra travel time and more missed classes for athletes, according to the panel&#39;s resolution.<br> <br> &#34;I don&#39;t care if they&#39;re playing Washington State,&#34; said Bobbi Owen, a professor of dramatic art. &#34;It doesn&#39;t seem to me that we should allow any more free days for students to miss class.&#34;<br> <br> Duke and North Carolina were the only two ACC schools to vote against expansion at the league&#39;s meetings in Florida earlier this month. But Moeser and Duke president Nan Keohane agreed a few days later to work to include the three Big East schools in the league.

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