This is the second of a two-part series about political contributions from Duke employees. The first story ran Monday and focused on federal campaign contributions by all employees, and the second looks at federal and state donations by current and former administrators.
Current and former University administrators have made significant financial contributions to political campaigns, public records show.
The Chronicle obtained campaign contribution data from the Federal Election Commission and the North Carolina State Board of Elections, revealing a number of campaign contributions at the state and federal level by University officials. Administrators have also given money to the political campaigns of members of the Board of Trustees as well as to the campaigns of faculty members.
“Making campaign contributions is a protected form of political speech,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “What individuals do with their time and with their money is their business. That would apply to any faculty member, any administrator, any student and anybody connected to Duke.”
Schoenfeld noted that University funds are not permitted to be used for campaign contributions or for partisan political activity.
Phail Wynn, vice president for Durham and regional affairs, has been particularly active in donating to campaigns, giving tens of thousands of dollars to candidates and political organizations both locally and nationally since 2008. Wynn, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, has contributed exclusively to Democratic candidates and organizations. Most of his contributions have been to candidates in North Carolina, but he also contributed to President Barack Obama’s 2008 election campaign.
Wynn has also donated to a number of elected officials representing the Durham area. FEC records show that he contributed more than $3,000 from 2008 until 2012 to the campaign of Rep. David Price, who represents parts of Durham and is also a professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy.
Some of Wynn’s largest contributions have been to the campaign of North Carolina State Sen. Dan Blue Jr., Law School ’73, who represents a district that includes Raleigh. Blue is also the minority leader in the Senate and previously served as chair of Duke’s Board of Trustees. Wynn made a $5,100 contribution to Blue’s campaign committee in 2015.
Two other administrators, Schoenfeld and Richard Riddell, vice president and University secretary, contributed to Blue’s campaign in 2010 while Blue was chair of the Board. Riddell declined to comment on his personal contributions.
The Board elects the University secretary and approves compensation levels for University officers, including Schoenfeld, Riddell and Wynn.
Schoenfeld denied that administrators contributing to Blue’s campaign created any conflict of interest and said that he did not believe that the contributions could create a perception of a conflict either.
“Dan Blue is a remarkable and distinguished political leader and civic leader in North Carolina,” Schoenfeld said. “Those who support him support him because he’s an important and effective and valuable leader for North Carolina. Do I see any of this as being a conflict of interest? No. Do I see the appearance of a conflict of interest? No.”
Wynn, who oversees Duke’s relations with the Durham community, has also contributed to the campaigns of several state legislators representing the area. He contributed $3,250 to the campaign of N.C. Rep. Larry Hall between 2012 and 2015, contributed $1,000 to the campaign of N.C. Sen. Mike Woodard, who also serves as a business analyst for the University, between 2014 and 2015 and contributed $1,500 to the campaign of N.C. Sen. Floyd McKissick between 2009 and 2011. Wynn has additionally contributed to several other candidates running for North Carolina state office.
Only one administrator in a role similar to Wynn’s at a dozen peer institutions has contributed a similarly large amount of money to political candidates, according to records from followthemoney.org. Thomas Lewis, vice president for government and community affairs at Johns Hopkins University, has contributed roughly $30,000 to candidates for federal office and state office in Maryland. Lewis served in state government for more than 17 years before coming to JHU, according to the JHU Gazette.
Schoenfeld said that he did not believe Wynn’s contributions would create a conflict of interest with his work in Durham.
John Burness, visiting professor of the practice in the Sanford School of Public Policy and former senior vice president for public government affairs and public relations, agreed with Schoenfeld that neither the volume nor the nature of administrative contributions created a conflict of interest. Like Schoenfeld, he emphasized that all Duke employees, including administrators, have the right to make personal contributions to political candidates. He added, however, that during his time in the administration, he maintained a policy of not giving to particular candidates.
“You certainly are not denied your right of endorsing a candidate or supporting a candidate by virtue of being in an administrative role,” Burness said. “But I always in my personal case, and usually I think President [Nannerl] Keohane, we had a policy of not doing it, and we limited that policy to ourselves.”
Several other administrators have also been politically active. Dr. A. Eugene Washington, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of Duke University Health System, has contributed thousands of dollars to the presidential campaigns of President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Washington declined to comment for this story.
Dr. Nancy Andrews, dean of the School of Medicine and vice chancellor of academic affairs, has contributed more than $10,000 to the campaigns of Democratic candidates for federal office since 2008. She has also contributed $8,700 to the campaigns of Democratic candidates seeking North Carolina office. Andrews could not be reached in time for comment.
Dr. Victor Dzau, who was previously chancellor for health affairs and is currently a James B. Duke professor of medicine, has contributed more than $10,000 to the campaigns of Democratic candidates for federal office since 2007. He has also given more than $5,000 to the campaigns of Democratic candidates for North Carolina office.
President Richard Brodhead does not have any disclosed state or federal contributions. Past University presidents have made political contributions, however. FEC records show that Dr. Keith Brodie, James B. Duke professor of medicine and president emeritus, contributed $3,000 to Price’s campaign in the late 1990s, several years after his term as president finished in 1993. He also contributed to the U.S. Senate campaigns of John Edwards and David Beasley. In addition, Brodie has also contributed to two candidates for North Carolina office.
Keohane, who served as president from 1993 to 2004, contributed $250 in 1998 to EMILY’s List, a political action committee focused on electing pro-choice Democratic women to office.
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