UNC President Tom Ross has offered the following statement regarding Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall’s decision to file criminal charges against a former UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member:
“In the spring of 2012, then Chancellor Holden Thorp and I directed that the State Bureau of Investigation be notified of possible criminal activity stemming from the academic fraud issues that had taken place at the Chapel Hill campus. Following a more than year-long SBI investigation and thorough review by District Attorney Woodall, an indictment was returned today against former faculty member Julius Nyang’oro, who was identified by the initial campus investigation as one of the two individuals responsible for the academic irregularities that occurred in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies. We fully support the district attorney’s decision to seek an indictment in this case.
“There have been multiple investigations and reviews of these matters that should give us all assurance that we have taken all reasonable and available steps to uncover the facts of this situation. In addition, over the past two years, UNC-Chapel Hill and the UNC system have implemented extensive new policies, procedures, and safeguards to prevent similar problems from ever happening again, and we believe these efforts are appropriate, comprehensive, strong, and represent best practices. Carolina’s new centralized database, for example, enables stronger monitoring and tracking of student records and grade forms, and the campus has reorganized the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes and placed it squarely under the supervision of Academic Affairs. We will continue to explore additional ways to ensure the integrity of the academic experience at UNC-Chapel Hill and all UNC campuses.
“We must now allow the judicial process to run its course. Both the University and Mr. Woodall relied on the SBI to help determine whether any criminal acts had occurred, since the SBI had broad investigative powers not available to the University. From the beginning, UNC-Chapel Hill has cooperated with this investigation and will continue to do so as the criminal process proceeds to conclusion.”