January 8, 2019
To: President Margaret Spellings, Dr. Bill Roper, the UNC Board of
Governors and the ECU Board of Trustees.
We represent a large number of ECU alumni and supporters who wish
to come forward in total support of Dr. Cecil Staton. We agree with the
ECU Board of Trustees assessment of Dr. Staton’s performance when
they have twice weighed in with a vote of confidence for him. We are
concerned that Dr. Staton has been under a cloud since his hiring with
unfair accusations and investigations which have been a continued
distraction and hindered his ability to lead.
With the positive things happening at ECU today we can only wonder
what Dr. Staton might be able to accomplish if given the latitude to run
the university as he has been charged to do. There has not been a
week that he has not been faced with distracting criticism and threats.
We feel this is unfair and has been a hindrance to the progress of the
university.
One of the biggest public criticisms of Dr. Staton has been his
connection to the problems in the athletics department, none of which
he created. These criticisms are simply symptomatic of today’s social
media environment. In fact we argue that Dr. Staton has done an
incredible job in working to bring back athletics with his hires of Dave
Hart, Joe Dooley, Jon Gilbert and Mike Houston. To judge the
Chancellor on what he has done for athletics is premature at best. We
feel his recent hirings prove he has handled athletics as well as
possible considering the mounting problems of the last few years.
There have been continuing frivolous charges against Dr. Staton
regarding questions about his hiring, the use of outside contractors, his
role in the purchase of the Chancellor’s home and other items that
have been repeatedly investigated by the BOG and he has been
exonerated of any job threatening behavior each and every time. Why
then do these things continue to surface as the reasons why he must
be removed?
We are concerned that rumors persist that Chancellor Staton will be
removed in spite of the support of the trustees and the people who
know him best.
We feel it is time for the evaluation of the Chancellor to become public
and we would like to offer our support to him. In fact, we would ask
that, with the permission of the Chancellor, the 360 review recently
finished be released so that it can become part of the record. It is
confusing that a document designed and paid for by the university

 would not be available to those of us invested in the university. Many
of us gave our time to be interviewed for the document and find it
insulting that this document has been hidden from view since its
publishing.
In short we are asking that Chancellor Station be allowed to continue in
his position without continued threats. It seems beneath this great
institution for this to continue. It is time for this shameful episode in
our university’s history to come to an end and for our Chancellor, Dr.
Cecil Staton, to be supported and given every opportunity to lead our
university to greatness.
Our university is the ultimate engine for the economic success and
health care needs of eastern North Carolina. Dr. Staton’s efforts in
leading our successful comprehensive campaign, ECU’s rural prosperity
initiative, increasing research and internationalization, and bringing
talented people to leadership positions across our university support
our conclusion that our chancellor must be given every opportunity to
lead without harassment or inappropriate interference. His
commitment to student success has been the hallmark of his tenure
and the results are evident.
We call on Pirates everywhere, those in a position of governance and
all friends of the university to join together in support of our Chancellor
and his vision for our great university. Together we can accomplish
much for our region and state and its citizens.
We, the undersigned, appreciate your time and understanding of this
very important matter.
Respectfully,