Greensboro’s International Civil Rights Museum has hired “community organizer” Bayard “Bay” Love as its new chief operating officer and director of development.

As you can probably imagine, a cloud of secrecy hovers over Love’s hire:

It’s unclear when he was hired, what duties he’ll perform or where he’ll fit within the museum’s leadership structure.

Twenty-three of the museum’s 24 board members didn’t return calls and emails from the News & Record on Friday to discuss Love’s new role.

….Love declined to talk about his new role Friday.

A security guard in the museum’s lobby paged Love, who said he was unavailable. The guard passed along Love’s email address, which he said could be used to set up a future appointment.

….It’s unclear why board members are reluctant to discuss Love.

On Friday, News & Record Editorial Page Editor Allen Johnson inquired about Love’s job in an email to Hayes-Greene.

His email’s subject line was “Museum director.”

Johnson: “Have you folks made a hire?”

Hayes-Greene: “Hi, Allen. We have not hired an executive director.”

Hayes-Greene didn’t respond to Johnson’s follow-up question, or return other phone calls and emails later in the day.

Meanwhile, Greensboro City Manager Jim Westmoreland and Mayor Nancy Vaughan “have said they don’t have a clear picture of the museum’s coffers.”