Auditor: N.C. A&T had corruption, fraud

[AggieMike]

Well I have to do a story about it tonight and editors from other HBCU's guilt-tripped me into putting this together but we it is a big deal. New details or not, when 400,000 of possible scholarship money is gone, that's when students care. When somebody gets a $66,000 stipend and ours at the paper was $125 a month, that's a problem.

[Freeze]

gator2 said:

Freeze,

I think you need to do some homework into this. If I brought millions of dollars to a university and wanted to shift somethings around to best serve my vision, I would do it to. If all of this was wrong, why has he not been charged with anything? Why haven't the vending companies pressed charges. I guess they still got paid!


The N&R does not define A&T. We need to stop doing those folks a favor by giving this mess the attention it does not deserve.

I thought I made it clear that one of my issues is shooting the messenger. I dont know the man, but I've seen a lot of folks bash Hackley and maybe he deserved some of that for airing some of this dirty laundry to or dreaded foe...the News and Record. But what I didn't notice was folks upset that we have shitty laundry when we thought it was pressed and clean.

Gator I didn't accuse Renick of anything. I simply raised questions (something I've noticed that you hate people doing). If he did those things they are accusing him of and his actions were self serving and not in the interest of A&T, then I dont care if he brought a billion dollars into the university, wrong is wrong. If the smoke clears and we find this is a BIG misunderstanding and Renick can explain the missing money then GREAT. He can clear his name and the university can move on to dealing with others who have misspent the money. But what if he did misuse funds Gator?? What if Saint Renick is a nice guy who occasionaly likes to buy a Picaso for his house and send his wife to Cancun on the university's dime?? Would you still want everyone to look the other way and sing the alma mater or would you want to try to think critically and raise some probing questions that yield positive results for the university???

[Bornthrilla]

Mike, I think you are confusing the $66,000 stipend with something Renick was accused of doing. Based on this article, that stipend was allegedly given by the manager of the Engineering Faculty Fellowship Program to help her husband who was a student at the time.

It's easy to see Renick's name in the headline and then automatically associate everything listed in the article to him.

[aggiedog]

I would hate to think that Renick misused funds that was designated for student activities. If in fact this is true, They need to prosecute him. I don't like people who steal especially from our students ,inview of the serious problems we have trying to raise funds for the different activities. Those of you who continue to think Renick " walked on water" need to get your heads out of the sand. I really get upset over these issues because we are so far behind in funding our athletic program. The top schools in the MEAC has a buget of Approximately 8.5 m to our 6.5m. We have a long way to go to catchup.

[Bornthrilla]

The audit also found, among other things, that $500,000 in questionable expenses in the university's HBCU Future Engineering Faculty Fellowship Program, funded by the federal Office of Naval Research.

According to the audit, a program manager made improper payments, including more than $66,000 in stipends in one year to her husband, who was in the program. The highest yearly stipend had previously been $23,000. The manager spent 41 nights in hotels during 2005-06 at the program's expense, the audit said, at an average cost of $328 a night.

The manager also hired her daughter and paid for her travel to conferences in Jamaica, California, Nevada and Pennsylvania, according to the audit.

The manager and her husband ran up a $369 restaurant and room service tab during a two-day symposium.

"These are serious allegations, said Chris Mears, director of public affairs for the Office of the State Auditor. "Any time you have fraud allegations, it rises to another level."

[Bigboy]

(1). The vending money was from Pepsi and Pepsi told Renick he could use the money as he sees fit for the university.
(2). Private citizens also gave money to Renick to be used as he saw fit for the university.
(3). The majority of this money was used for student schlorships. Some of you probably recieved some of this money for your bill or for books.
(4) When Renick was hired the board of trustees agreed for his wife to travel with him on school related trips with money through the foundation.
(5). The art work that he commisioned was the mural in the union, the mural in the new events center, the sit-in statue in front of the Dudley building and the art sculpture in front of the new Craig building. The money used was only a fraction of the cost of these works of art. The university sells prints of all of these works of art so some of this money is being recouped.
(6). Most people don't know that most of the art work in the chancellor's office belonged to Renick and when he left A&T he gave that art to the university. This art is worth more than 100,000 dollors.
(7). All those A&T banners that you see on the polls around campus was purchased with the same money. When the band did not have money to travel to some of the football games Renick used some of the money for them to travel. In other words this money was used for what it was intended.
(8). Dwyan Wickum (I think thats how he smells his name) was the faculty member that the annuity money was for. I don't know the details behind this but it must have been part of his agreement to come here.

Overall everything he did with this money he thought he was in his right to do so. Everthing he did was in the best interest of A&T and it's students. You might say how do you know this to be true? I am not at liberty to say how I know, but I know!!!

[DOOMS]

While I've learned some less than flattering information about Renick's practices none of what I learned even insinuated that he had any involvement (neither personally nor tacitly by turning the other way) with the shenanigans that the N&R is trying to put on him.

I'll be the first to say I was not a fan of his student recruitment strategies and his hiring practices for athletics, but those were my only two problems with him.

I think Bigboy's summary is on point from what I've learned.

[Bornthrilla]

^
^
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That's why I said people need to learn all the facts in this situation before anyone rushes to judgement.

The one thing I know personally was that Renick was an honorable man and a great ambassador for this univeristy.

No one is blaming the messenger, but when that same messenger has a noted history of crying wolf and sensationalizing stories that deal with A&T then it would be silly not to be at least skeptical.

[Bornthrilla]

Mike, before you publish your article you should PM Big Boy and hear what he has to say about his.

[Bornthrilla]

And speaking of Big Boy's point #3 ... if it wasn't for money I got directly from the Chancellor's office during my last semester at A&T, I would have never been able to graduate. I was about $700 short on my tuition bill and the "angels" in his office came to my rescue. This may have been money that came from the spending fund, but I am not sure and I could really care less. Maybe that's why I feel a need to defend the man's honor and give him the benefit of the doubt.

When I needed his help when I was a student, he was there for me.

[AggieMike]

Nah, I knew that was the Naval Research Grant, my question is did he know? Who knew ya know. I was personally a big fan of chancellor Renick, we had a great relationship and I just hate to hear that all this happened under his watch (or lack thereof).

Wickham is a syndicated columnist from USA Today that teaches Media Ethics, great professor, I had him last semester. He runs the Institute for Advanced Journalism Studies
Definitely check your PM's Bigboy.

[Bigboy]

The situation with the Naval Research Grant and the situation with Information Technologies was all known about before Renick left A&T. Hackley act as if he uncovered all of this when he came here.

[DOOMS]

No, It was reported like Hackley acted as if he uncovered all of this.

How many people on this board ever even met the dude to know if he acted a particular way? He invited all of us to come by and see his presentation on the status of the University and only one of us that I know of bothered to go. I didn't even go. Yes, I had other engagements but the knowledge that I have never interacted directly with the guy keeps me from forming all these ridiculous judgments about him.

As for Renick, I have met the cat. I've interacted with him several times. I directly challenged him on his recruitment strategies. I didn't care for his response. He's called my house to follow up on a monetary pledge I made. I admired the fact that a chancellor would take the time to talk with me even though I didn't agree with him. And I admired the fact that even though the school he ran continues to have difficulties in soliciting money, he had no problem with picking up a phone despite his busy schedule.

On a Hackley side note, my pop said he saw him at an FSU athletics fund-raiser. Hackley wrote a check for five grand (yes, $5,000USD) to the FSU athletic department. See what people do when you're nice to them?

The bottom line is iggas ufcked up under Renick's watch and he's going to be held responsible for it in the public eye whether he had a damn thang to do with it or not. There are bad apples everywhere. The only difference is our bad apples seem to be the flavor of the month. Better measures to watch these clowns have been put in place. This too, shall pass until somebody figures out a way to (temporarily) beat the system.

Coincidentally, I read the following passage just this morning:

'This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes."

So long as men go in search of many schemes we will have these types of problems and there will be stories for the men that go in search of many articles.

[Bigboy]

I should have said that all the articles that are written about this subject make it seem as if Hackley uncovered all of this. You are right. No I never met the man.

[DOOMS]

I've really learned not to trust the media's slant on things from this site. When 'thrilla stated that Rob Daniels would take quotes from over a year ago and put them in new articles to fit his story I realized he couldn't be the only one doing it.

Likewise it appears that the N&R is doing a "Hackley versus the world" spin and other papers have followed suit. This colors our alumni opinion of him which in turn colors his opinion of us. Which creates more articles. You get the "A&T was in deep doo-doo" articles with Hackley and you get the "we hate Hackley and everything is fine nothing to see here" articles from us.

Ultimately only one entity gains anything from all that stuff. We all know who it is.

I believe Hackley. I believe Renick. That's really my whole opinion. The people responsible are going to do some real time for screwing with state money. Renick will not do any time, he will not have to make any apologizes and his new job is not in any jeopardy. If he was even remotely responsible for any of this stuff being attributed to him I think maybe at least one of the foregoing would apply.

Meanwhile, Hackley won't get any richer, his retirement won't come any sooner and he won't get a promotion off of the articles. He might get richer and get a promotion for filling in where Bowles wants him to, but Bowles doesn't want this stuff to play out in the media. He wants all his institutions to remain open and run strong since everybody can't go to Carolina and State.