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A new state audit shows that the University of North Carolina system failed to monitor its $97 million nonprofit, Project Kitty Hawk, which was launched to increase online college access for working adults, The Assembly reported.
The expenditure review led officials to identify and return more than $102,000 from purchases it deemed unallowable under new rules established shortly after original CEO Wil Zemp resigned last April.
Disallowed purchases included $4,250.17 spent at a Ritz-Carlton hotel, more than $21,000 to rent a Chapel Hill apartment and $25,000 to the Armed Services National YMCA Headquarters—of which Zemp was a board member—for a black-tie gala.
What the audit discovered serves as yet another blemish on a project launched with COVID relief funds and the goal of helping thousands of North Carolina’s working adults earn online college degrees and boosting enrollment despite a demographic cliff of traditional-aged college students. The project is now projected to experience a $1.5 million shortfall in fiscal year 2027.
The UNC system declined to comment to The Assembly, saying questions would have to be referred to Zemp.
