Op-Ed: Predatory behavior continues

 Editor's Note: The Daily Tar Heel reached out to Rick Curti on Thursday afternoon for a response. He said in an email “I have no response because I didn’t do anything wrong. I asked her out and she wasn’t interested and didn’t want to work with me so I moved on.”

I knew it would continue to happen. But with the #MeToo moment at the top of the U.S. agenda, I had hoped for better.

This semester I made a teaching moment out from our way to deal with a #MeToo moment that hit close to home. North Carolina native Charlie Rose, who was inducted into the NC Media and Journalism Hall of Fame in 1999 for his journalistic achievements, was fired for abuse of power and sexual harassment. This led me to ensure that our school took action — 75 percent of our students at the MJ-school are women. I believe they need to be prepared for how to deal with the inevitable sexual aggression they will face in their careers — as do our faculty and staff. This semester, we’ve had staff meetings and presentations for faculty about this issue.

Last week, when a student reporter came to Senior Associate Dean Charlie Tuggle about inappropriate texts she received from a potential interviewee trying to bring Major League Baseball to Charlotte, he knew what to do. 

The student was certain that the texts from Rick Curti, the self-proclaimed CEO of the Charlotte Bats, were not proper. She came to Dr. T and asked if this was a #MeToo moment. He brought it to me, and we clearly saw the texts were inappropriate and aggressive. 

Texts:  

Curti: Can I ask you a question before we start? (the interview)

Student: Of course.

Curti: After you are done with you’re (sic) project! Would you be interested in getting to know each other? I can’t believe I’m asking you this. I don’t do this ever! You’re very beautiful and I haven’t stopped smiling! I’m a very understanding person! I’m sorry if I made things weird. Do you still want to talk at 2pm?

Our student got back to Curti that she would no longer do the interview and blocked him.

Last week, I called Curti. The Charlotte Bats seem to be a one-man organization with no infrastructure or public board members. I left messages for Curti. He called back Good Friday when the University was closed. I reached him at 8:15 on Monday morning and said I assumed he knew why I was calling. He answered yes. When I asked him to tell me the reason, he hung up. I immediately called back. I got voice mail. I left messages three days in a row. He never called back. These actions look like those of a predator — not a man who made a stupid mistake.

I’ve since reached out to the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and to our campus police. I want his potential partners — civic leadership in Charlotte — to know of his unacceptable behavior. And I want the police that protect our students to be aware. 

I’m proud of our young reporter who knew the difference between a request for an interview and an inappropriate sexual play. I’m proud of the school’s Dr. T, who knew what to do. 

I hope all of our MJ-school women and men will be prepared when the next unwarranted and unwelcome “come on” is mixed up with a professional media request. 

Rick Curti may be hiding from me, but he can’t hide from what he did. He’s on notice. A civic leader can’t be so irresponsible and disrespectful — or get away with this kind of predatory behavior. 

Susan King

Dean, UNC School of Media and Journalism