SHAW U ALUMS REQUEST
SCHOOL BE INVESTIGATED
BY NC AG'S OFFICE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Now another HBCU is under the gun in North Carolina’s Capital City.
Shaw University, founded in 1865 as one of the oldest Black universities in the South which has had its share of controversy over the years, is now the subject of a complaint by the Save Our Shaw Coalition to the N.C. Attorney General’s Office, alleging that the truth is not being told about the university’s true financial condition, and that administrators are selling off vital parts of the school that threaten its longevity, and are alleged violations of North Carolina nonprofit law.
“Our immediate concern is to ask that the [AG’s Office] would step in and put a halt to the sale or lease of any of Shaw University’s assets,” Coalition leader and Shaw alum Eugene Myrick told reporters in front of the university last Thursday.
“We’re being told that they want to lease land, but we have the list that says ‘ready for sale’. So are you going to lease land, or is it ready for sale?” Myrick rhetorically asked. Technically, Shaw U has the legal license to sell off parts of its downtown Raleigh campus after the Raleigh City Council rezoned the area for mixed use development in 2023.
According to the complaint filed with the State Attorney General’s Office, there are the “cumulative sale and transfer of university-owned property; public announcements of a redevelopment project valued at approximately $558 million; properties publicly identified as “ready for sale”; concerns involving historic campus properties; and the use of restricted institutional funds for operating purposes as reflects in the University’s audited financial statements.”
Requesting “immediate action,” the complaint continued, “Standing alone, each issue deserves careful review. Considered together, they present a compelling basis for immediate inquiry before additional charitable assets are placed beyond the reach of meaningful State oversight.”
The coalition wants the NC AG’s Office to “open a formal inquiry into Shaw University’s governance, fiduciary compliance and management of charitable assets.” The group of Shaw alumna also want the NC AG to “exercise any authority available under North Carolina law to preserve the status quo” while Shaw U is being investigated.
Shaw University President/CEO Dr. Paulette Dillard responded to the Save Our Shaw Coalition in a letter, saying in part, “Our responsibility is to support our students, steward the University’s resources, and sustain ShawU’s educational mission. That responsibility includes listening to concerns and addressing them with care and accountability.”
She added that the university is “coordinating a response.”
NC AG’s Office reported has forwarded the complaint to Shaw U’s Board of Trustees for that response.
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