While director of an anti-poverty center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, former Sen. John Edwards helped draw major speakers and big donors.
That kind of work helped the privately financed center become a permanent institution that will last beyond Edwards' tenure, center supporters say. Edwards stepped down last month as director to run for president.
"There was skepticism both within and outside the university whether this would be a genuine academic, worthwhile exercise," said Jack Boger, dean of the university's law school. "My opinion is that it has exceeded everyone's expectations."
The center -- housed in the law school -- was designed to focus on research as well as finding ways to alleviate poverty. Academics, activists, researchers and those running community programs all have become a part of the center's work.
Edwards worked with UNC Chapel Hill to set up the nonpartisan center in early 2005, three months after his failed bid for the White House as the running mate to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. For Edwards, the center provided a platform to travel the country discussing poverty, which he focused on heavily during his own presidential run before joining the Kerry ticket.
The center paid Edwards a $40,000 annual salary for what was billed part-time work and did not pay his travel expenses. The salary came from investment returns on private donations.
The center was made possible mainly by a $2 million donation from a Chapel Hill couple, Michael Cucchiara and Marty Hayes, who have also given generously to Edwards political committees since 2004.....
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