UNC President Calls For End To Lottery Advertising

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UNC President Calls for End to Lottery Advertising

Special Report - July 11, 2007
In a memo to the chancellors of North Carolina’s 16 public universities, University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles has called for an end to lottery advertising at UNC collegiate athletic events. The memo comes as state lawmakers consider a bill that would prohibit the promotion of state sponsored gambling at high school and collegiate sporting events and venues.

In the memo, Bowles states, “I recently became aware that the North Carolina Lottery Commission has been advertising the North Carolina lottery at various university athletic events across the state. To the extent that this [has] been done on UNC campuses, I ask that you eliminate this practice going forward. While it is legal for our students who are 18 or older to participate in the lottery, the lottery is nonetheless a form of gambling, and I feel strongly that we should not encourage gambling by our students. The University’s educational role extends beyond the classroom, and we should keep that responsibility in mind as we make decisions about which entities our campuses contract with for advertising or athletic sponsorships. For this reason, I urge you to refrain from entering into any further advertising sponsorship agreements with the North Carolina Lottery Commission and ask that you terminate any existing agreements as soon as it is feasible to do so. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, the North Carolina House has passed HB 461—Lottery Advertising Compliance Act and has sent the bill to the Senate for consideration. The original version of HB 461 would have prohibited lottery advertising or sponsorships in connection with any high school or collegiate sporting event. Prior to passage, however, the House removed references to collegiate sporting events at the request of the State Lottery Commission. Bowles issued his memo just days later.

“We wholeheartedly agree with President Bowles’ assessment that gambling is an activity that should not be promoted by the UNC system, and we applaud his action to eliminate lottery advertising at university athletic events,” said John Rustin, director of government relations for the North Carolina Family Policy Council. “We encourage the General Assembly to follow President Bowles’ lead, restore the collegiate provisions to House Bill 461, and then pass the bill,” Rustin concluded.

According to Associated Press reports, the advertising contracts between the Lottery Commission and universities expired in early July. During the nine months prior, the lottery spent just short of $400,000 to advertise at UNC sporting events.