Dive Summary:
- According to newly released documents, the University of North Carolina spent over $500,000 in donated funds for public relations help in an academic fraud scandal that led to Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp's resignation and football coach Butch Davis' firing.
- Over the course of two years, the school paid Fleishman-Hillard $367,000, while $144,000 went to political consultant and NBA official Doug Sosnik and close to $20,000 was paid to Sheehan Associates of Washington, D.C.
- Additionally, The News & Observer reports that the e-mails, which it received as part of a public records request, show closer ties than previously reported between former African and Afro-American Studies department chair Julius Nyang'oro and the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes.
From the article:
Newly released documents show North Carolina's flagship state university spent more than $500,000 in donated funds over the past two years to manage public impressions about a long-running academic fraud scandal. ...