UNC-CH PAC Yet To Donate Any Funds

The committee was established in April 2002 by six UNC-CH alumni to increase the University's presence in the political process. Political action committees typically are created by politicians or interest groups to raise funds for campaigns.

Founding members of CHE include three UNC-CH Board of Trustees members Rusty Carter, Paul Fulton and Nelson Schwab and former Kenan-Flagler Business School Dean Paul Rizzo, who was appointed to the UNC Health Care board of directors at a Thursday UNC-system Board of Governors committee meeting.

Though CHE has been operational since April, it has yet to contribute to any campaigns, according to financial reports submitted to the N.C. State Board of Elections on Sept. 3 -- the most recent required filing date.

Fulton, the committee's de facto director, said although CHE has chosen several possible candidates to support, it has not donated to any campaigns since the Sept. 3 filing date.

Committee members will help fund campaigns of candidates who support all forms of higher education in North Carolina, Fulton said.

But Fulton would not specify which candidates were being considered.

Raleigh attorney John Wallace, the committee's volunteer legal counsel, said CHE has not given any of its contributions to candidates because of the political uncertainty created by the redistricting litigation and the delayed N.C. primary.

It was not clear who the candidates were until recently, he said.

Wallace also said CHE consciously chose not to donate to political campaigns while the state legislature was in session. The N.C. General Assembly did not adjourn until Oct. 4.

"The complicated statutory scheme prohibits contributions from political action committees with paid lobbyists while the legislature is in session," Wallace said.

He said that although none of the committee's members are paid, they want to play by the spirit of the law. "They want to act with propriety," Wallace said.

Fulton said the fact that CHE did not begin soliciting contributions until April added to the committee's delay.

"We were late on the scene," he said.

But the committee raised $25,000 in contributions during its first month of existence and topped $200,000 in only five months.

During the second quarter of financial reporting for 2002, CHE raised $136,500, most of which came in $2,500 donations from individuals.

Fulton said this also is characteristic of contributions received since the second quarter ended June 30.

The majority of donations came from N.C. businessmen with UNC-CH ties.

Contributors during the second quarter included high-profile businessmen like G. Kennedy Thompson, president and CEO of Wachovia Corp.; Bill Smith, vice president of Bank of America; and John R. Belk, president of finance, systems, and operations for Belk Inc.

"One of North Carolina's great advantages is its outstanding network of colleges and universities," Thompson said. "I want to support that and our public education system."

There also were contributions from lesser-known UNC-CH supporters across North Carolina.

"This committee is long overdue," said contributor David Ward, a New Bern attorney.

He said other organizations have advocated for higher education at the state level before.

"(It) is a new entity but not a new concept," Ward said.

UNC-CH is the second UNC-system school to create its own political action committee. N.C. State University supporters in 2000 started a political action committee called the Economic Development Coalition 2000.

As of Aug. 24, EDC had donated $12,525 to candidates and or political committees during this election cycle, according to financial reports.

Although CHE is not moving as quickly as EDC, committee members are still pursuing their goal of 100 contributions by means of a networking process, Fulton said. "It's sequential -- just like any solicitation process."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.