From the Raleigh News and Observer (8/19/11): In justifying recent private meetings of the new University of North Carolina system Board of Governors, the system's counsel conveniently rationalizes a closed-door meeting by saying ... it wasn't a meeting. No, system vice president Laura Luger said, a gathering of the board in Chapel Hill that was not open to the public was "outside the scope of an official meeting by all of its parameters."
Board members, many newly appointed Republicans, had what sounds like a get-acquainted session that included a dinner and breakfast in addition to meetings. The closed meetings amounted to more than seven hours of time in a two-day period. If they were social, it must have been some shindig.
This is a public body doing the people’s business, and while some of the business here seems to have been entirely social and thus not subject to the state’s open meetings law, there were indeed discussions about issues facing the university in gatherings that were closed. The board should not put itself in a position that requires definitions of “scope” by its lawyer.