ODU acts to repair damage after Hamilton ethics scandal

NORFOLK

Ensnared in an ethics scandal with a state lawmaker, Old Dominion University is taking steps to repair the damage and prevent its recurrence.

ODU President John Broderick addressed the controversy head-on in his State of the University address Wednesday:

"I know the members of the Old Dominion University community have been disappointed by the headlines. We have an important mission here, and it is absolutely necessary that the public respect us. Mistakes were clearly made."

Broderick has ordered an internal audit of the university's Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership, which put state Del. Phil Hamilton on its payroll after he secured its start up funding.

While awaiting the auditor's report, expected within the next two weeks, Broderick said he is preparing a policy for consideration by ODU's Board of Visitors next month "to ensure this never happens again."

Already, Broderick has released hundreds of pages of e-mails between Hamilton and ODU officials that have prompted an ethics investigation of the veteran legislator and bipartisan calls for his resignation.

Those e-mails leave many questions unanswered - questions that Broderick and the other key players at ODU continued to dodge last week. Even so, the e-mails offer a rare inside look at how a state university curried favor with a powerful lawmaker who had his hands on the purse strings.

Both Broderick and his predecessor, Roseann Runte, now president of Carleton University in Ontario, said they were unaware until The Virginian-Pilot revealed last month that Hamilton, a senior member of the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee, had been on ODU's payroll for the past two years.

The Newport News Republican's $40,000-a-year contract was canceled after the e-mails made clear that he was angling for the job while he worked to secure the center's funding.

None of the e-mails demonstrates definitively that either Runte or Broderick, who was then a vice president, knew about Hamilton's contract.

It is clear, however, that William Graves, dean of ODU's Darden College of Education, knew.

The e-mails also show that Runte and Broderick understood the importance of staying on Hamilton's good side.

By April 2007, Hamilton had steered the new teacher-training center's $500,000 first-year appropriation through the General Assembly and had negotiated his position as the center's coordinator.

On April 24, Runte e-mailed Graves about a proposed meeting in which she, Graves and Hamilton would participate.

"I said OK... but if you think we should not, please let me know... " she wrote, "and what does Phil think?"

On April 27, Hamilton e-mailed Runte to thank her and Graves for attending a meeting of the Newport News School Board to unveil a partnership between the new ODU center and the Newport News schools.

Runte forwarded that message to Broderick and Graves. Broderick responded: "Roseann and Bill, Congrats and I believe we have a real ally in the GA with Phil, in part, due to both of your efforts!"

On May 14, Broderick messaged Runte and Graves that he had received an invitation to a $50-a-ticket seafood reception for Hamilton. He recommended that he and Runte each buy a ticket, adding: "I think we have to invest in him on this one!"

Meanwhile, Dave Blackburn, the administrator in Graves' department who hired Hamilton, was working out the details of the lawmaker's contract.

As the process went forward, Blackburn kept Graves informed.

In a June 11 e-mail to Blackburn, Hamilton expressed concern that the contract "seems to imply full-time work hours."

He noted that he also had responsibilities as a legislator and as a part-time employee of the Newport News school system.

In a return e-mail, Blackburn reassured Hamilton: "The contract does not

indicate work hours... Dean Graves has directed the Center office be accessible during normal day. That can be done by arranging your hours with the admin assistant's hours as well as by having Center phones roll over to my department. I have arranged the phones to roll over."

That message seems to suggest that the center's small office in a satellite building in Hampton was often not staffed.

Was that the case? Neither Graves nor Blackburn responded to The Pilot's inquiries.

On July 2, Blackburn e-mailed Hamilton that he would need to provide a monthly statement of work and invoice so he could be paid.

The invoices that Hamilton provided, however, were minimal. There was no statement of work other than the single line: "Subcontracting fee for the Center for Teacher Quality & Educational Leadership."

There is no evidence that Hamilton was required to document his hours, submit progress reports or meet any performance measurements.

On Oct. 12, 2007, ODU put out a news release announcing that Gov. Timothy M. Kaine would speak at the new center's grand opening. Also speaking, the release said, would be Runte and "Del. Phil Hamilton."

There was no mention of Hamilton's role as a paid contractor of the center.

In a statement accompanying the release of the e-mails earlier this month, Broderick called the center "a vital and integral part of ODU and its educational mission" that "assists at-risk schools and school districts to create cultures of learning and well-being."

He listed six school systems, including Norfolk, Hampton and Newport News, that have entered into partnerships with the center and said "its impact is felt on a daily basis across Virginia."

Asked what role Hamilton played in those activities, Broderick did not respond.

Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com