Chapter
Twelve
Matt Kupec and
Tami Hansbrough;
Thorp’s
announced resignation
Just after the Martin Investigation was announced in late
August of 2012, yet another embarrassing episode would hit the university. While it initially appeared unrelated with
the ongoing athletic/academic scandal, a closer inspection showed that there
were actually several intimate ties to athletics, as well as other areas of the
school that were oddly interwoven with events not only of past importance, but
also some that were yet to come.
It was announced via a September 11, 2012, News and Observer article that UNC’s
chief fundraiser, Matt Kupec, had resigned two days earlier. Kupec had been the Vice Chancellor for
University Advancement for the previous 16 years, and was also widely
recognized as the school’s most accomplished raiser of money. He was a graduate of UNC, and had been a star
quarterback from 1976 through 1979. His
resignation came after a brief internal investigation strongly suggested he had
taken personal trips at the university’s expense. An odd twist, however, was that he was
accompanied on those trips by Tami Hansbrough, another university fundraiser –
who was also the mother of former UNC basketball star Tyler Hansbrough.
According to Chancellor Holden Thorp, he had initially
informed Kupec of findings that included trips and destinations where Tami Hansbrough’s
other son, Ben, had been playing. At the
time Ben Hansbrough had been a star basketball player at Notre Dame. According to Thorp, Kupec offered his
resignation during that meeting. “It was
difficult because Matt has been such a great person for the university and has
raised billions of dollars for us,” Thorp said, “but I had to share with him
what we had been finding and it didn’t look good and that it’s likely that this
sort of personally driven travel was unacceptable, and we are going to need to
do a pretty thorough investigation of it.”
At the time, Chancellor Thorp said that he did not see
the fundraising controversy as being an athletics concern. However, the presence of Tami Hansbrough in
the equation made the situation ambiguous, especially considering the timeline
of certain events. During her son
Tyler’s junior year at UNC, he won the Associated
Press National Player of the Year award.
Instead of leaving school early and heading to the NBA like several of
his UNC teammates had chosen, Hansbrough opted to return for his senior
season. Almost every underclassman who
had won that Player of the Year award in the past had left early for the
NBA. In fact, Hansbrough was the first
winner since 1991 who had opted to return to college. That decision was announced in late April of
2008. Later that same year, Tami was
hired for her first job at UNC; that was a fundraising position in the
university’s dental school foundation.
Her salary was approximately $80,000 per year. Tyler Hansbrough would go on to lead the
basketball team to a national championship during his senior year, while his
mother was simultaneously employed by the school. Chancellor Thorp confirmed that a dental
foundation audit later found that during that championship run, Tami Hansbrough
had been traveling to cities in which Tyler was playing basketball. But according to the N&O, Thorp said those foundation-paid trips were legitimate
because she was raising money for the university, and UNC fans traveling to
those games would have been good candidates to make donations.
*
* *
By the time of Kupec’s resignation, Tami Hansbrough had
moved on to a second and more prestigious position within the university. She was a major gifts officer whose salary
had grown to $95,000 annually, according to the News and Observer. She had
been placed on administrative leave as of the date of the September 11
article. Kupec declined to be
interviewed. Chancellor Thorp said the
university’s compliance office had reviewed information about the travel for
compliance with NCAA regulations. That
audit led to the exit of Hansbrough’s boss at the foundation, Brad
Bodager. Attempts by the newspaper to
reach Bodager had also been unsuccessful.
As more details emerged, it became apparent that Matt
Kupec and Tami Hansbrough had been in a relationship together. In mid-2010, Kupec had sought to hire a
fundraiser. According to Thorp, he had
heard that Tami (who was still working for the school’s dental foundation at
the time) might be interested in Kupec’s new fundraiser position. When Thorp learned that she would be
reporting to Kupec, he told Kupec he could not hire her because it would
violate the university’s nepotism policy since they were in a
relationship. According to the News and Observer article, the position
disappeared and was never filled. However,
a short time later another fundraising position arose. That one was to report to Winston Crisp, who
was the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the time. In an article that came out on September 12
in the N&O, Crisp said, “Matt
came to me to propose that we work together on a major gift officer for
parents. That was a position that I had
been interested in for quite some time but had not had the ability to
fund. But it was Matt who approached me
with the initial conversation of having a major gift officer for parents of
children.” After what Chancellor Holden
Thorp said was a proper job search with multiple candidates, Crisp hired
Hansbrough for the job in 2010, giving her a new position within the university
and one that would ultimately allow her to be closer to Kupec. Crisp said that Hansbrough’s hiring was the
result of a search committee’s unanimous recommendation.
*
* *
Matt Kupec separated from his wife in October 2009,
almost a full year after Tami Hansbrough had been initially hired by the
university’s dental foundation. Orange
County (NC) records indicate that Kupec had committed “marital
misconduct.” Hansbrough, meanwhile, was
also divorced from her former husband – Tyler Hansbrough’s father. However, in September of 2009 she was sued in
Mississippi by a woman who alleged that Hansbrough had broken up her marriage,
according to a later N&O
article. Those Mississippi court
documents alleged that Hansbrough had seduced the woman’s husband, leading to
his separation from the woman in early 2008 and then divorce. It was during that same timeframe that
Hansbrough’s son Ben was beginning the transfer process to Notre Dame, and her
son Tyler was announcing his intent to forgo the NBA and return to UNC for his
senior season. Hansbrough would be hired
at the university’s dental school foundation shortly thereafter.
*
* *
In a released statement after his resignation, Kupec said
that, “I have been privileged to have worked with incredibly talented faculty,
students, administrators and staff. I
have worked with gifted Chancellors. But
most of all, I have been fortunate to work with a score of passionate alumni
and friends who love this University and who have paved the way through their
generosity to make Carolina a true gem.
I will miss you all but in my heart I will always be a part of the
Carolina family.”
Two of the specific chancellors Kupec had worked for were
Holden Thorp, the man who was in charge at the time of Kupec’s resignation, and
James Moeser, who served from 2000-2008.
As mentioned in a previous chapter, both of chose chancellors had served
on a Board of Directors with former Governor Jim Martin (who had recently begun
an investigation into the school’s academic transgressions), and both
chancellors’ years blanketed the ongoing academic/athletic scandals.
Overall, Kupec had raised $4 billion for the
university. He first joined the school
as a fundraiser in 1992 and became the Vice Chancellor for University
Advancement in 1995 – a position he would hold until his resignation. His most recent annual salary had been
$349,800, according to school records. A
look at the early stages of his employment with the university would turn up
several curious connections during his time working at UNC.
*
* *
As stated above, Kupec had been a mid-level fundraiser
for the school beginning in 1992. In
late 1994 he was the primary fundraiser involved in raising money for the
university’s new Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center. The funding of that Cultural Center was one
of the primary topics covered at a meeting of the Faculty Council in November
of 1994. According to the meeting
minutes, several “experts” on the Center were assembled in order to give
informational presentations to the Faculty Council about the impending
project. One of the main presenters was
the interim associate dean of the Office for Student Counseling. This man was the chair of the Black Cultural
Center Advisory Board, and also a lecturer in the Curriculum of Afro-American
Studies. His name was Harold Woodard –
the same Harold Woodard who would later be head of the Academic Support Program
for Student Athletes in 2012. Woodard
was the eventual boss of Robert Mercer, who was discussed in the previous
chapter and who had been unceremoniously removed from his job as director of
that Academic Support Program. As
mentioned in Chapter Eleven, Woodard stated in 2012 that he “was not aware” of
what had been happening in the AFAM department during the many years of
academic scandal. Yet he had at one time
served as a lecturer in that curriculum, and then back in 1994 he had been the chair
of the Advisory Board for a new Black Cultural Center. That same Cultural Center would eventually
house the university’s Institute for African American Research – an
organization which Julius Nyang’oro had previously served as the executive
director.
During that late 1994 meeting of the Faculty Council,
Kupec spoke shortly after Harold Woodard.
Kupec responded to a question regarding the fundraising for the
project. Kupec said, “The project for
the building is $7 million. We have
raised $1.6 (million) to be exact. I’ve
never taught and I’ve never coached, but on this project I can’t imagine the
feeling you must get in the classroom when you start to see your students get
it. Or when Dean Smith’s out there
working with those young men, the student athletes, and bingo! Donald Williams
starts drilling the 3’s, and we win national championships.” Kupec later touched on a number of volunteer
leaders who had earlier that week met for a committee meeting regarding the
fundraising efforts for the new Cultural Center. One of those volunteers at the meeting, in
fact, was head basketball coach Dean Smith.
That major fundraising project for a new Black Cultural
Center took place after UNC had won the national title in 1993, and also
shortly after Julius Nyang’oro had ascended to become the chairman of the AFAM
department. In the months closely
following that late 1994 meeting which detailed Kupec’s fundraising plans for
the new Center, he would be promoted to become Vice Chancellor for University
Advancement. As stated earlier, it was
estimated that Kupec was responsible for over $4 billion in fundraising during
his tenure at UNC. His intangible
influence may have been even greater, though.
During a speech Holden Thorp had given shortly after being hired as
chancellor in 2008, he noted that, “One night eight years ago, (then-Chancellor
James Moeser) and Matt Kupec took me down to Fayetteville to speak at an alumni
event.” That would have been in 2000,
shortly after Moeser had become chancellor and years before Thorp would rise to
that eventual position. Indeed, Kupec’s
history at the university suggested that he was close to many of its intricate
workings – athletics, academics, money, and administration.
*
* *
A day after the initial news story that opened this
chapter which detailed Matt Kupec’s resignation from the university, Tami
Hansbrough resigned her position as a fundraiser at the school. A new article in the Raleigh News and Observer included further
details about apparently impermissible trips the couple had taken while being
co-workers at the school. The paper
confirmed that university officials were studying at least six trips related to
collegiate basketball games, but those officials had not provided any further
details at that time. “We are in the
preliminary stages of our review,” university
lawyer Regina Stabile had said.
Furthermore, the N&O had
confirmed that Kupec and Hansbrough traveled together at least 25 times from
May 2010 until the time of their resignations.
Some of those trips appeared personal in nature, such as a two night
stay on the North Carolina Outer Banks during the July Fourth weekend in
2010. Other trips coincided with NBA
games for Tyler Hansbrough.
According
to the September 11, 2012, article, the News
and Observer sought to obtain a copy of the earlier Dental Foundation audit
and related expense records that revealed some of the misuse of money. However, the foundation’s director at the
time, Paul Gardner, said those documents were not public record because the
foundation was a nonprofit and not a public agency. That request was then forwarded to UNC’s
legal department, but four weeks after the original inquiry the information had
still not been provided to the newspaper.
The Dental Foundation’s insistence on closely guarding its records would
again become important almost a year later.
That situation will be covered in a later chapter.
*
* *
In yet another unexpected turn of events in the
multi-year saga of UNC’s athletic/academic scandals, Chancellor Holden Thorp
announced on September 17, 2012, that he would be resigning effective at the
end of the 2012-13 academic year.
Multiple news entities covered the story, and also covered some of the
reactions from faculty members and also students at UNC. More details would also emerge in the coming
days in terms of possible reasons behind the timing of Thorp’s announcement.
In a September 18, 2012, News and Observer article, Thorp said, “I will always do what is
best for this university. This wasn’t an
easy decision personally. But when I
thought about the university and how important it’s been to me, to North
Carolinians and to hundreds of thousands of alumni, my answer became clear.” He said that no one had asked him to resign,
but that he thought stepping aside would be best for the university and his
family. “As you know it’s been a tough
couple of years,” he said in an interview.
“I’ve been through a lot of things I didn’t imagine I’d have to go
through.”
He was undoubtedly referring to what the newspaper called
a constant stream of damaging revelations – improper benefits for football
players, academic misconduct involving a tutor, and academic fraud in the
African and Afro-American Studies department.
The latter had recently been punctuated by the uncovering of a former
star player’s transcript, which strongly suggested the fraud stretched back
more than a decade. Also part of the
equation was the less than week-old resignation of Matt Kupec along with the
revelation of his personal relationship with the mother of former basketball
All-American Tyler Hansbrough.
According to the article, Thorp had been forced to
explain that most recent university embarrassment to the UNC Board of Governors
in a closed-door session the previous Friday, which would have been September
14. Members of that governing board had
previously publicly supported him. UNC
President Tom Ross said Thorp notified him about his resignation decision on
the following Sunday afternoon.
Other quotes and bits of information were contained in a
coinciding article posted on September 18, 2012, by ESPN.com. Thorp stated in
that article: “It’s been stressful, so
I’d be kidding you if I told you I hadn’t thought from time to time about
whether it would be better for the University and better for me. But this weekend was the first time I really
thought about it and felt like it was the right time.” He said his intent was to resign effective
June 30, 2013. Wade Hargrove, chairman
of UNC’s Board of Trustees, said in a prepared statement that the board tried
to talk Thorp out of his decision. “I
respect his unwavering commitment to always do what he thinks best serves the
University,” Hargrove said.
A wral.com
article posted the mixed reactions of various students and faculty members from
the school. Some felt Thorp was taking the
fall for problems he didn’t cause. “A
few people have just ruined it for the whole bunch,” freshman Savanna
Fitzgerald said. “I think it is
ridiculous. I think it is shocking, not
on his part but the fact that he has been pushed to this, and I think a lot of
it has been the negative media.”
Sophomore Jhenielle Reynolds said that Thorp had “done his best to show
people that we are a university of academic integrity.” Some students, though, felt a new leader
would help the school move past the scandals.
“With a new person,” junior Alexander Jackson said, “we could get back
to our reputation, which would be great.”
Mohsin Shad echoed those thoughts:
“It just makes sense to me because of all the scandals he was involved
in. It was probably a well-thought-out
process.”
Jan Boxill, a philosophy professor and chairwoman of
UNC’s Faculty Council, said she and many of her colleagues were in tears Monday
morning when they learned of Thorp’s decision.
“I think he’s just been beaten down,” she said. Dozens of faculty members reportedly emailed
Boxill to see if there was anything they could do to persuade Thorp to continue
as chancellor. That persuasion would
ultimately not end up being successful.
Coincidentally, however, Boxill’s name would arise again in the scandal
the following year, and in a much less flattering context. Those events will be covered in a later
chapter.
*
* *
Thorp was asked in that earlier ESPN.com article if he had any regrets about how he handled any of
the well-publicized issues that arose over the previous two years. He said: “Obviously, if you look back on
something, it’s easy to say that you wish you would have made some decisions
sooner, or you had gotten some information sooner and done something with it
sooner. I think once you know how things
turn out, it’s easy to say that. But I
feel good about what I did with all the different pieces of information that
came up. And I think we have reforms in
place, and this is going to be a better, strong University because of it.”
The end of Thorp’s tenure as chancellor was a far cry
from the vision he held when first hired for the position. During a Campus Celebration Speech from May
8, 2008, then-Chancellor-Elect Thorp had made numerous remarks about his past
close association with the university, and his great future plans as leader of
the school. Thorp had graduated from
UNC, as had both of his parents, his brother, his sister-in-law, and a
cousin. He mentioned that then-UNC
President Erskine Bowles had recommended him to the Board of Governors. When Bowles eventually offered the job to
Thorp, Bowles essentially told him it was “the most important job offer of your
life.”
Other details of note were that Thorp had initially
returned to Chapel Hill in 1993 as a member of the classroom faculty. He stated that the reason he went into
administration was because of James Moeser, the chancellor who had preceded him
– and who he also served with on a Board of Governors alongside former Governor
Jim Martin. “I simply can’t put into
words what James Moeser has done for me,” Thorp said at the Campus
Celebration. “And I know that all of you
here today join me in deepest appreciation and admiration for what he has done
for Carolina these past eight years.” Those
years (and their significance) were mentioned earlier, spanning from 2000 to
2008.
Thorp went on to mention other “wonderful mentors” he’d
had while at UNC, with one of the names being none other than Matt Kupec. He recounted his immediately prior job as
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences – which oversaw Julius Nyang’oro and
the AFAM department. Finally, he said
that some of the duties of those newest administrative jobs he held would in
part be to write speeches and correspondence instead of patents and scientific
publications, as was the prior case when he was a faculty member of the
school’s Chemistry department. “And
now,” Thorp said in that 2008 speech, “only a year into my new life of letters,
I land a job where the last three words of most speeches have already been
chosen for me: ‘Hark the sound.’”
Those
three words were a reference to the alma mater of UNC. Thorp expanded upon the thought, asking “But
what of this ‘sound’? What will
Carolina’s sound be in the years to come?”
After making references to the Bell Tower chimes and James Taylor, he
asked, “Will it be the sweet sound of a basketball hitting the net? God, I sure hope so,” voicing the well-known perception that basketball was the true
king on the UNC campus.
Thorp
would continue with words that would end up containing a lot of irony in the
future, as they would ultimately be succeeded by the numerous scandals that
would punctuate his time as chancellor: “But
if we do our job well, when we make a sound, we will make the sound of
knowledge: knowledge that comes from an unrelenting commitment to the highest
levels of scholarship. Knowledge
produced when our students participate fully in research and benefit from our
scholarship in the classroom. Hark the
sound of knowledge.” Hopefully unbeknownst to Thorp at the
time, the vast athletic/academic scandal that had been prevalent at the
university for years would unfortunately make a mockery of that very
knowledge-based ideal.
*
* *
The day after Holden Thorp announced his eventual
resignation as UNC’s chancellor, details emerged via a September 18, 2012,
article in the News and Observer that
showed Thorp had flown multiple times on private planes with Matt Kupec and
Tami Hansbrough. Records indicated that
the trips took place after Thorp had stopped Kupec from directly hiring
Hansbrough because the two were dating, which suggested Thorp should have been
aware of the precarious situation.
Thorp indicated that he didn’t question their travel at
the time, even though Kupec rarely flew with many of the other fundraisers at
UNC who had higher-ranking jobs and positions than Hansbrough. The flights Thorp took with the couple
weren’t the only red flag he missed in a controversy that led to their
resignations the previous week, the article stated. Even though Thorp blocked Kupec from directly
hiring Hansbrough, he said he was okay with the eventual arrangement:
Hansbrough working as a fundraiser in the university’s division of student
affairs, a position that was funded by Kupec’s office, and which was created
via Kupec’s urging.
*
* *
According to the N&O,
most of the flights taken by Kupec and Hansbrough together were on private
planes operated by a university-affiliated entity called Medical Air Inc. As of 2012 it was based at Raleigh-Durham
International Airport, but prior to 2011 the planes were based in Chapel
Hill. The primary mission of Medical Air
was to ferry university doctors to rural parts of North Carolina to treat
residents who could not otherwise get high-quality medical care, and/or it was
to train doctors in those areas. The
article said the planes were available on a limited basis for other state uses,
but that medical flights took priority over others.
Kupec and Hansbrough may have taken trips to over 20
cities over two years, and a review of Medical Air flight records indicated
that Kupec traveled with Hansbrough more than anyone else. In one particular instance Kupec and
Hansbrough were scheduled to return from Montana on a commercial flight, but
Kupec’s assistant sent an email to Medical Air officials to request a private
plane for part of the return trip home. “Matt
and Tami will be returning from a donor visit from Montana,” the assistant
wrote. “There are some issues going on
in the office so need to be back on Sunday.”
Based on further documentation, a Medical Air plane went to Chicago and
brought the two back to Chapel Hill.
University officials had not provided detailed records or
other information about any of the flights and billings at the time of the
article. They cited an ongoing internal
audit that was trying to determine whether any flights were inappropriate. Kupec continued to decline comment to the
newspaper, now more than a week after his resignation. Hansbrough could also still not be reached.
The Medical Air flight manifests acquired by the News and Observer showed that Chancellor
Holden Thorp was aboard planes with Kupec and Hansbrough in April, June and
December of 2011, and then again in March of 2012. All of those flights were either going to or
coming from New York. On two of the
flights, Thorp’s wife, Patti, joined them as the only other passenger on board
the plane. Thorp said in an interview
with the newspaper that at the time, he had no reason to question the travel by
Kupec with Hansbrough. “The trips we
went on were university business,” Thorp had said. However, he had acknowledged that questions
did crop up, albeit two months after that last flight together – and those
questions did not come from the chancellor himself. In May, during a regular personnel review of
Kupec, a review committee raised questions about Kupec’s relationship with
Hansbrough and their travel, according to Thorp. “Matt had his five-year review this spring,”
Thorp told the newspaper, “and at the end of that, there were concerns raised
about Matt’s travel and about whether it was appropriate and whether it was
sort of personally driven or professionally driven.” Thorp said he asked Kupec
about it at the time of the May review and Kupec told him the travel was for
university business. Thorp said he did
not take any other action at that time.
The News and
Observer said it had begun seeking travel information related to Hansbrough
in mid-August of 2012. As was often the
case with the paper’s requests, however, those too had been denied (or at least
delayed) by the university. The
newspaper eventually appealed directly to Thorp. The chancellor said he had asked a university
lawyer “in recent weeks” to gather information about Kupec’s travel. It was after looking at that data he
concluded that a deeper review was needed, which lead to his confrontation with
Kupec and the latter’s resignation. As
mentioned earlier, approximately a week after Kupec’s resignation Thorp was
questioned about the situation behind closed doors by the UNC System Board of
Governors. The content of those
discussions had not been publicly disclosed as of the time of the news
article. Board of Governors Chairman
Peter Hans said that while Thorp had done well on some measures, he “needs to
be successful in clearing up some lingering issues on campus.” Several days later Thorp had announced his
resignation.
*
* *
Approximately
a week later, UNC issued a news release that said an internal audit of travel
and other expenses for Kupec had found nearly $17,000 in questionable personal
charges, though all of which had since been repaid. The brief release mentioned some of the
university policies regarding unallowable charges for a variety of endeavors,
such as air travel, lodging, meals, and so forth. The release concluded by saying that no
additional audit work was necessary, indicating that it was now a closed matter
for the university.
Kupec
released a statement that apologized for his “lapse in judgment” that led to
his personal monetary charges, and noted that “Tami Hansbrough was unaware that
the charges had not been reimbursed to the University.” Hansbrough herself released
a statement which was far less humble and apologetic. She said she “did nothing wrong in any way in
the use of University or Foundation monies,” and that she “was forced by the
administration of the University to resign.
This happened over my protest and before any substantive investigation
was conducted into my responsibility related to these allegations.” She went on to say her reputation had been
wrongly and irreparably damaged, and that she hoped there would be “an official
apology to me and my family by this (present) University administration so that
my reputation and future can begin to be repaired and we all can move forward.”
Hansbrough was represented by lawyer
Joseph B. Cheshire V, the same lawyer who had represented Jennifer Wiley, the
tutor at the heart of the impermissible academic benefits provided to the
football team two years earlier. UNC
spokeswoman Karen Moon said of Hansbrough’s request for an apology: “The
University does not intend to respond.”
Wade Smith, a Raleigh lawyer who represented Kupec, was
referenced in an October 24, 2012, News
and Observer article saying that he was not aware of any criminal
investigation but acknowledged it was a possibility. Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall
said university officials would trigger a review if the school notified authorities
of the misuse of money, much like any other embezzlement or misappropriation
case involving an employer. Woodall said
that as of the time of the article’s release, that had not happened. Roughly one month later in a November 20,
2012, article, Woodall reiterated that university officials should request
outside investigation into the nearly $17,000 in personal spending with
university monies by Kupec – a request that had obviously still not been
made. That November article revealed
even more questionable prior spending habits by Kupec and Hansbrough that did
not appear university driven. Woodall
said that he had not ruled out a criminal prosecution. However, Kupec’s lawyer, Wade Smith,
ominously implied that bringing such charges against his client “would be
unwise.”
*
* *
With the various scandals at UNC now well over two
(documented) years old, the list of individuals whose jobs had been directly
affected by it continued to grow. John
Blake resigned. Butch Davis was
fired. Julius Nyang’oro was essentially
forced to retire. Dick Baddour retired
earlier than originally planned. Robert
Mercer was reassigned to a new position.
Matt Kupec resigned. Tami
Hansbrough was forced to resign. Holden
Thorp resigned.
There was one question dealing with this most recent
episode that remained oddly unanswered – and even publicly unasked. Matt Kupec had worked for the university for
20 years, the past 16 of which were in the influential position of vice
chancellor. He had traveled and worked
closely with multiple past leaders of the university, rubbed elbows with
administrators in the prestigious South Building, and above all had raised over
$4 billion for the school. When
confronted with the possible misuse of university funds – which would
eventually only amount to around $17,000 – he immediately resigned. The unasked question was, “why?” No criminal charges had been brought against
him; the university allowed him to repay the money. The amount was a small portion of his
approximately $350,000 annual salary.
Even more contrasting was the minuscule percentage it was compared to
the total amount he had raised for the school.
Yet he stepped away from a place where he had graduated, and a position
he had held for 16 years – apparently without qualm or complaint.
One general stipulation of NCAA investigations is that
they have no legal/criminal jurisdiction over entities (or people) not directly
associated with member schools. They can
question student athletes about possible infractions, but only while they still
attend school. They can question
coaches, but only while still employed.
And they can presumably question administrators and fundraisers and have
a fair amount of leverage to coerce cooperation, but only while they still hold
those jobs. Once Matt Kupec (and two
days later Tami Hansbrough) resigned from UNC, those two individuals
effectively removed themselves from any possible future interviews with the
NCAA. Just as Blake, Davis, Nyang’oro,
and Baddour had managed, in one form or another.
*
* *
The essential (and unanswered) questions:
-- Was basketball star
Tyler Hansbrough’s return to school (for his senior season) in any way
connected to his mother being hired by the university, or vice versa?
-- Should Tami
Hansbrough’s personal trips with Matt Kupec that used university funds be
viewed as an impermissible benefit, since some of those trips occurred while
her son was still attending the school and participating in athletics?
-- What role, if any,
did Matt Kupec’s fundraising efforts for the Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural
Center have in his almost immediately-following rise to the position of Vice
Chancellor for University Advancement?
-- What influential
role, if any, did “volunteer leader” Dean Smith play in the promotion and
support of the new Cultural Center?
-- Had they not been
stonewalled and withheld by the university, what would the Dental Foundation
records have shown regarding the impermissible use of university funds by
Kupec, Hansbrough, or possibly others?
-- Was the timing of
Holden Thorp’s resignation announcement in large part dictated by facts he had
been made aware of by the media – facts containing the information regarding
trips he took with Kupec and Hansbrough on private planes?
-- Was there a veiled
meaning when Wade Smith, Matt Kupec’s lawyer, said that it “would be unwise” to
criminally charge his client?
-- Why did Matt Kupec
resign without any apparent argument or attempt to keep his job?