North Carolina’s higher education governing board received so many student complaints about a small Black Mountain Christian college with ties to a convicted felon that it has requested the North Carolina Department of Justice investigate the school “for potential unlawful misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation, and otherwise engaging in unconscionable behavior.”
Excel College pressured its students into signing non-disparagement agreements, threatened them with legal action and misrepresented its academic programs, according to 19 complaints included in the University of North Carolina System’s request and obtained by Asheville Watchdog through public records requests.
“The complaints contain serious allegations of criminal and other fraudulent misconduct that warrant further investigation and enforcement,” according to a July 20 letter from Brad Trahan, senior associate general counsel with the university system. “Taken together, the allegations describe a pattern spanning across student safety, institutional governance, and academic integrity.”…