As Gerlach resigns, new video emerges from night out drinking

The man, in what appears to be city security footage, also loses a flip flop, taking a couple of steps before he recovers it. He waves toward a bar he'd visited earlier in the night. He crosses the street, gets in his car and drives away.

An anonymous source sent WRAL News extensive footage Saturday night, all dated from the night and early morning last month that Gerlach was drinking in downtown Greenville. It appears to be Gerlach in the video.

The interim chancellor was put on leave almost a month ago after images from the night of Sept. 25, or the morning of Sept. 26, surfaced showing him dancing and drinking with young people.

When the pictures went public, Gerlach acknowledged poor judgment and having "too good a time." But he also said he didn't break the law.

In an interview with Pirate Radio after Gerlach's suspension, host Troy Dreyfus asked him, "Did you do anything illegal that night?"

"No," Gerlach replied. "I'm guilty of poor judgment, but not of anything other than that."

Gerlach resigned Saturday, saying in a statement that he failed to live up to ECU's standards.

"There is no one to hold accountable for the situation except me," he said in the statement.

Gerlach didn't explain why the announcement came on a Saturday, and neither did UNC Interim President Dr. Bill Roper, who also put out a brief statement.

Reached Sunday and told of the new videos, Gerlach declined to comment beyond his written statement.

A UNC system spokesman said he wasn't sure Sunday whether the administration had seen the videos. After Gerlach was put on leave, the UNC system hired the Womble Bond Dickinson law firm to look into the incident.

On Sunday morning, the UNC Board of Governors announced plans to meet Tuesday morning in special session. The notice indicated a closed session is likely. The ECU Board of Trustees plans to meet later that day.

Before he became interim chancellor, Gerlach headed Golden LEAF, a Rocky Mount-based foundation that doles out economic development grants from the state's share of the national tobacco settlement.

The chancellorship opened up in March when former Chancellor Cecil Staton resigned after feuding with the Board of Governors' chairman.