Education

UNC Board of Governors member charged with assault

Raleigh police charged a member of the UNC Board of Governors with misdemeanor assault on a female last month after an incident at his home.

Posted 2015-06-24T19:16:22+00:00 - Updated 2015-09-01T14:50:17+00:00

Raleigh police charged R. Doyle Parrish, 61, with assault on a female at his home on May 12, 2015.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The charge against Doyle Parrish was dismissed Aug. 26, 2015.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Raleigh police charged a member of the University of North Carolina system Board of Governors with misdemeanor assault on a female last month after an incident at his home.

Records show R. Doyle Parrish was arrested May 12 after a report filed by his wife, Nancy Parrish, who is listed as the victim.

Doyle Parrish could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

He began his four-year term on the Board of Governors after an appointment by the state House in 2013.

Parrish, 61, is chief executive of Summit Hospitality Group, a hotel and restaurant management company, and sits on the board of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the nonprofit charged with recruiting businesses to the state.

A major political donor, he's given thousands in recent years to national and state Republican candidates, including former state House speaker and current U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, Gov. Pat McCrory and state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, according to records from the National Institute for Money in State Politics. Prior to 2009, he also gave thousands to Democrats such as former state Senate leader Marc Basnight and Govs. Bev Perdue and Mike Easley.