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ECU's Interim Chancellor Placed On Leave

Dan Gerlach (photo by Rhett Butler, courtesy of ECU)

East Carolina University's interim chancellor has been placed on administrative leave. This comes after photos and videos surfaced of Dan Gerlach drinking and dancing with students at local bars.

University of North Carolina interim president Bill Roper released a statement Monday saying Gerlach was placed on leave pending an investigation.

The News & Observer reports the photos and video appear to show Gerlach chugging beer and dancing with college-aged students at bars near the Greenville campus. He can also be seen putting his arms around several young women.

Gerlach released a statement saying that a university leader needs to be “present and approachable,” and regrets the photos “being perceived as anything more than what they are.”

Gerlach took over as ECU's interim chancellor last May. 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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