North Carolina University Chancellor Resigns For Failing To Investigate 120 Crime Complaints
ByA North Carolina university chancellor is currently being investigated for failing to investigate more than 120 crime complaints. He resigned May 17.
Willie Gilchrist will resign from his $220,000 post and retire on June 30 from his position as Chancellor of Elizabeth City Sate University (ECSU), according to a press release from the school.
"While I am grateful for the opportunity to have served over the last seven years, I am eagerly anticipating and look forward to spending more time with my family, along with the other opportunities that retirement will bring," Gilchrist said in a statement.
According to the Virginian-Pilot, a university spokesman responded to a call to Gilchrist's office with an e-mail saying the chancellor would not comment further.
Of the 120 un-investigated crime complaints dating back at least to 2007, 17 were claims of sexual assault, reported the Virginian-Pilot. If the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation finds Gilchrist and the university to be at fault, they could face charges of witness intimidation, obstruction of justice and could face fines or loss of federal financial-aid funding.
ECSU Police Chief has been on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, reported WTKR. The campus police could face obstruction of justice charges for failing to investigate the aforementioned 120 criminal complaints.
The federal Clery Act requires all colleges and universities to accurately track crimes committed on campus and compile them into annual reports to be published for public viewing.
In ECSU's latest Clery Report, no sex offenses were listed in 2009, 10 or 11. However, according to the Vigrinian-Pilot, Elizabeth City Police Department discovered as many as 11 sexual assault complaints to be un-reported by from before 2008 through 2011.
Yale University recently was fined $165,000 for not reporting its sex offenses, according to a letter from Mary E. Gust, director of administrative actions and appeals service group at the U.S Department of Education to Yale President Dr. Richard Levin.
ECSU and its sister school, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, are both currently under investigation for not properly reporting sex offenses as well as other criminal complaints.