CC Board to hear update on Halifax investigation

RALEIGH — Members of a special investigative committee looking into allegations against Halifax Community College President Ted Gasper will be given an update on the investigation’s progress during the North Carolina Community College System’s board meeting Friday.

This comes after a week of meetings at the community college surrounding the allegations, a separate investigation by the State Auditor’s office and new revelations from a former administrative assistant who worked for Gasper.

Gasper has been placed on paid leave for the past month as the state board began its investigation into multiple claims of abuse, including the elimination of academic programs without trustee or state approval. His administrative assistant, Faye Pepper, has also been placed on paid leave because of her close working relationship to Gasper. Joy Cooley is serving as the college’s president.

The investigation is among the first in the system’s history to examine such severe allegations against a community college president. In the past, the system’s investigations have centered on issues such as whether contracts had been bid properly.

North Carolina Community College System spokeswoman Audrey Bailey said the presentation, which will be made by Dr. Linwood Powell, a member of the investigative committee, will give the full board an update on the investigation and explain where it currently stands.

The board meeting will be held at Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst.

“There is not going to be any real report,” said Bailey who added that the update was more process than substance.

Meetings have been held throughout the week in anticipation of the report’s Nov. 7 deadline to decide what actions the school will take and whether Gasper will be terminated. A closed-door meeting was held Tuesday by the college’s board of trustees to discuss a draft of the audit report.

The investigative committee has met through the week and will do so again today, most likely in executive session, Bailey said.

Those meetings have brought out information that further connects Gasper to activities of former Rep. Frank Ballance, who was sentenced last week to four years for transferring state funds to his private foundation while he was a state senator. Gasper has been accused of using public funds and resources to organize a “congressional ball” for Ballance, a violation of state law. Gasper has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. However, according to published reports, a former assistant, Odell Holliday, testified to the committee that he used school resources in his involvement with Ballance.

Others have testified about Gasper’s alleged abusive relationship with employees and the dropping of academic programs without approval from the board of trustees or the state.

In March of 2001, Gasper was given a 12-month notice by the board and was told that a two-year contract would not be renewed. A few months later, in November of that year, new trustees were approved that overruled that vote and gave Gasper a new contract.

Last year, Gasper received a $7,400 salary increase from the school’s institutional budget when the community college system had frozen the pay scale for community college presidents.