With the start of the spring semester approaching, members of North Carolina State University's College of Education took an unprecedented action: They passed a vote of no confidence in the incumbent president. The vote was purely symbolic, but records show that the university again requested an independent health investigation just hours after the vote.
More than 1,200 pages of emails and documents exchanged between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and North Carolina State University offer new insight into NC State's response to Poe Hall and whether the university intends to involve the CDC in investigating the building.
A few weeks before the vote, Kate Norwalk contacted WRAL 5 On Your Side with her heart pounding: She had just learned that the CDC was no longer investigating Poe Hall, the building where she taught for seven years.
It was the same building that she and hundreds of others believed may have caused their cancer.
North Carolina State University closed Poe Hole after air and dust samples showed high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which were widely used as building materials in the early to mid-1900s but were banned by the EPA in 1979 because of their toxicity to humans and wildlife.
Studies have linked PCBs to cancer, tumors and other medical problems.
Norwalk was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. Before the pandemic, she was spending 50 hours a week in the building as she worked to secure tenure. By 2023, two women in the 30-person psychology department were also battling the same illness, and there were more cases in the School of Education, also located in Poe Hall.
According to emails provided exclusively to WRAL News, a faculty member in the School of Education who was also battling cancer begged the university to inspect the building in August. The staff member knew of at least five women in the School of Education who were battling breast cancer, according to the emails. The university began inspecting the building in October and closed it in mid-November.
Later that month, WRAL News reported that North Carolina State University had requested a health hazard evaluation (HHE) from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the CDC. A health hazard evaluation evaluates potential risks to workers in the workplace.
As part of the HHE, investigators can collect samples, review medical records and conduct physical exams. The evaluation, which will take six to 12 months, could help Norwalk and others better understand whether their work environment contributed to their cancer.
But the evaluation ended before it even began. CDC emails explaining the situation show that NC State “communicated” in November and January that it no longer needed CDC assistance. Because NC State is a public institution, the CDC said it did not have the authority to continue the investigation without the university's cooperation.
The university did not make the changes public, but said it had hired a consulting firm to conduct more extensive testing, and that NC State will use the results of that testing to inform “decisions regarding remediation of the PCB source” at Pore Hole, according to a university statement.
The change marked the end of the only study focused on the health of people who had spent time at Poe Hole.
Norwalk contacted NIOSH in January for an update on HHE and heard the news.
After North Carolina State University refused to collect similar information from alumni and staff who were actively trying to report it, 5 On Your Side began collecting information to better understand the potential public health crisis.
A few days later, citing the WRAL report, faculty members in the College of Education asked the Faculty Coordinating Committee to call a vote of no confidence in President Randy Woodson, Vice President Warwick Arden and Dean of the College of Education Paola Stein over Poe Hall's handling of the situation.
In total, 65 of the 99 full-time faculty members voted. The majority of voters expressed “no confidence” in Presidents Woodson and Arden. Dean Stein narrowly escaped a vote of no confidence with 49 percent of the vote.
WRAL published the results of the vote Monday afternoon, and just before 9 p.m. that same day, NC State resubmitted the request for HHE.
“We will be assembling a team to assist HHE,” NC State's lawyers wrote to the CDC.
The renewed request for HHE was a small victory for Norwalk and hundreds of other staff and students who have expressed concerns about NC State’s transparency regarding Poe Hall and its willingness to allow an outside agency to inspect the building and the illness.
“They did the right thing, what they should have done all along,” Norwalk said.
More than 200 people have told WRAL they've been diagnosed with cancer after spending time at Poe Hole in the past four months.
The most common diagnosis is breast cancer. There have also been reports of miscarriages, tumors and neurological disorders, not included in the WRAL News tally. All are waiting for more information on what they may have been exposed to. Woodson said the university would not comment on health concerns or health guidance until it has completed its building inspections.
Last week, the university announced it would release results from its latest building inspection within the next few weeks. The university reminded the NC State community that building inspections are very different from HHE and reminded readers that CDC cannot publicly comment on public investigations. However, CDC told WRAL that while CDC cannot comment on public investigations, NC State can.
“There are no restrictions or policies preventing organizations or companies involved with NIOSH HHE from communicating information about the HHE,” a CDC spokesperson wrote.
WRAL reached out to NC State for comment, and a university spokesperson said, “The university will share updates with the community as appropriate.”
Hundreds of NC State parents, students and staff have reached out to WRAL News seeking updates, and many say they have not heard back from NC State.
“We want to know what the next steps should be,” wrote one parent whose daughter studied at Poe Hall for three years.
“Please let me know if there are any updates on the investigation,” another wrote.
“How can I get information?” asked a woman whose husband is battling cancer.
Those who do not live locally lamented that the university only warned students and staff about the toxic chemicals found in Poe Hall, while alumni who live in other parts of the country said they were unaware of the situation until a news article was forwarded to them.
“We learned about this from WRAL,” wrote a former graduate student who was battling an immune system disorder.
On Tuesday, the University Coordination Committee will hold a virtual meeting on Poe Hall hosted by university staff member Dr. Bradley Davis. Dr. Davis was hired by the university last year to “constructively resolve” issues and provide conflict and negotiation training. The meeting notice stated that Dr. Davis would not be providing “guidance” or “legal” advice.
