ECU trustees accused of offering money for student campaign to gain a voting ally
Two members of the East Carolina University Board of Trustees are accused of trying to fund an ECU student’s campaign for student body president in order to push their own political agenda.
Phil Lewis and Robert Moore allegedly reached out to an ECU student and arranged a meeting to convince that student to run for student body president, a position that has voting rights on the Board of Trustees. Lewis and Moore allegedly offered to pay for the student’s campaign in return for confidentiality and that student’s vote on certain board matters once elected.
The scheme is outlined in a letter from ECU board chairman Vern Davenport, vice chairman Fielding Miller and secretary Vince Smith that was sent to UNC System Board of Governors members David Powers and Randy Ramsey.
On Monday, the UNC System Board of Governors announced a special meeting for Wednesday “to consider complaints and potential sanctions” involving members of the ECU Board of Trustees.
The letter says that Lewis and Moore met with the student in January and offered to pay for the student’s campaign if the student would help them and other trustees create a majority vote to advance certain objectives, including electing a new board chair. They told the student they wanted Moore to take on that role and to keep all of this a secret, according to the letter.
Campaigning for ECU’s student government elections begins Wednesday and voting takes place from Feb. 19-21. Candidates have not been announced yet.
Help for a student’s campaign
Lewis and Moore made the following offers to help the student’s campaign:
- financial contributions to the campaign that wouldn’t be disclosed publicly;
- hiring a campaign manager with ties to many North Carolina political campaigns;
- assisting with signage and billboards;
- support from ECU trustee and former ECU student body president Angela Moss;
- collecting student information from ECU’s office of student affairs, which could violate students’ privacy rights;
- support against a proposal to raise student fees.
The trustees’ comments during the meeting “appear to demonstrate that they are advancing their personal political agenda ahead of the best interest of the university,” the letter said.
The letter describes contention among board members, including the current student body president, regarding student fees supporting the Athletic Department. It also says that Lewis and Moore are displeased with the current student body president because he’s not on their side and didn’t vote for Moss to be board chair.
Lewis and Moore admitted meeting with a student about the elections, saying it was “with best intentions of furthering the higher interests of the University,” according to a letter signed by the two trustees that was sent to Powers last week.
They said the “discussions during the meeting may not have been the best approach to governance at ECU” and they regret that it’s become a controversy and a distraction.
As members of ECU’s board, they have a responsibility to act in the best interests of the university and act in an honorable and transparent manner, they wrote.
“It is with sincere regret that we acknowledge our actions could have misrepresented this obligation,” they wrote in the letter.
When reached by phone Monday, Lewis said they are leaving this issue in the hands of the Board of Governors and “it’ll play out” this week.
‘Highly inappropriate’
“We believe it is highly inappropriate for Trustees to engage in discussions of Board business and ECU operations with a student without coordinating the same with the Board and ECU’s Senior Administration,” the letter from ECU leaders says.
This is not the first instance where Lewis and Moore have been in violation of board rules, according to the letter, and the new information demonstrates a “pattern of non-compliance.”
The Association of Student Governments for the UNC System passed a resolution at its January meeting that outlines these accusations and asks for an investigation and their removal from the board if proven to be true.
The UNC System Board of Governors Committee on University Governance will discuss the issue at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5 in Chapel Hill. The committee could make a recommendation for sanctions but the full board would have to vote on Lewis and Moore being removed from their positions.
This story was originally published February 3, 2020 at 2:14 PM with the headline "ECU trustees accused of offering money for student campaign to gain a voting ally."
