ECU investigates building connected to 5 professor deaths

Faculty members want to know if a campus building that dates back to 1970 is contributing to the cancer deaths of their colleagues.

"Faculty in this building are very concerned about the severe illnesses that have happened here," history professor Karin Zipf told WRAL Investigates. She serves as president of ECU's chapter of the American Association of University Professors and has worked in the Brewster building for 20 years.

Since 2011, she's lost five fellow educators, including four just since 2018, who all had offices in the A-Wing of the building. They all died from pancreatic cancer, a rare and aggressive disease.

"These were all individually some of the most compassionate people," Zipf said. "These were dedicated teachers. And we’re still grieving those losses because we were close to those faculty members. It’s really very heartbreaking."

While proving cancer clusters is difficult, Zipf feels the deaths are beyond coincidental. She’s not the only one.

"It would appear there's something going on," campus curator Ralph Scott said. He serves on the executive committee of the American Association of University Professors.

"I’m not a cancer specialist, but just to a layperson, it seems unusual," Scott said. Other faculty ailments in the same wing include brain cancer, kidney failure, and a pancreatic cyst.

While asbestos has been linked to cancer, there is no conclusive scientific evidence that connects it to pancreatic cancer.

Zipf said she believes that the university administrators are listening to their concerns and doing the best they can to look into the issue.

"The university takes the concerns of faculty, staff and students with great care," according to a spokesperson with ECU.

Zipf feels the school is listening to the faculty’s concerns, "I think the university is working very hard to prioritize this."

The wing where all the professors work houses only faculty offices, not classrooms.

"My own intuition, I would advise parents to tell their children not to drink the water in Brewster," Zipf said.

COVID precautions such as required mask wearing and work flexibility are helping to ease cancer fears of some faculty in Brewster.

"I'm hoping that with reports like yours and with inquiries that we will get the team together that is really I think that is what ECU can do best and that is apply the expertise that we have here on campus to solving the problem," she said.

University leaders told WRAL Investigates in addition to using local scientific experts, ECU is hiring an outside consultant to do a hazard assessment and try to address faculty concerns.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services confirmed it referred ECU faculty to request the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to conduct a workplace evaluation.