Tami Hansbrough's travel records spur questions

When Tami Hansbrough joined the University as a fundraiser in 2011, it was no secret that she was involved romantically with Vice Chancellor for University Advancement Matt Kupec.

When a previous central advancement job that reported to Kupec opened up, Chancellor Holden Thorp made sure she would not be considered for the position.

“When I found out (Hansbrough) might be interested in applying, I made sure that I told Matt she couldn’t be hired because that would violate nepotism policy,” Thorp said.

But she was later hired for a different position — one that led to swirling questions about her travel with Kupec and his resignation Sunday.

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp and Kupec had worked together to create a brand new position in Student Affairs, and when Hansbrough applied, Crisp said she emerged as the best candidate — regardless of her relationship with Kupec.

“The way it came to pass is (Kupec) suggested to me that we might collaborate on a major gift officer for a parent position. It made a lot of sense to me.”

“What you’re going to hear is that Vice Chancellor Kupec was busy trying to manipulate the world to get his girlfriend a job,” Crisp said. “I can’t tell you what he was and was not going to do, the only person who can answer that is Matt Kupec.

“But I can tell you that’s not what happened.”

Kupec resigned when Thorp told him an internal investigation would be launched into his travel records. Hansbrough was placed on administrative leave Monday, and neither she nor Kupec could be reached for comment.

Crisp said with all the work that Student Affairs does with parent programs, such as the Parents Council and the New Student and Carolina Parent Programs, creating a job which reports to him made sense. Per this structure of authority, Hansbrough could bypass the nepotism rule.

Crisp said Hansbrough was one of the three finalists the search committee produced, and she impressed the committee and him.

Now, with questions swirling around Kupec and Hansbrough’s mutual travel records, an internal audit has been launched to determine whether any travel expenses were personally motivated.

But for Crisp, Hansbrough is innocent until proven guilty.

“I’m not in the habit of disciplining or acting upon people before fully investigating things,” he said.

Crisp added that he had not suspected any impropriety previously on Hansbrough’s part, as it is typical for a major gifts officer to travel with the vice chancellor for university advancement.

“All I can tell you at the end of the day, from my perspective … is that there was every legitimate reason in the world to have this position, and the search that resulted was absolutely above board, wide-open, and a search that had integrity.”

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.