UNC System Sent 19 Student Complaints About Excel College Near Black Mountain to N.C. Justice Department in July 20 Letter
The complaints, which Asheville Watchdog obtained through public records requests, allege sexual misconduct, pressure to sign non-disparagement agreements and threats of lawsuits. The college's lawyer says it "utterly and categorically denies the allegations."
Nineteen complaints, one letter, and a school that says it never saw it
On July 20, 2026, a lawyer for the University of North Carolina System sent a letter to the state Department of Justice. The lawyer was Brad Trahan. The letter asked the state to investigate Excel College, a small Christian school in Ridgecrest, near Black Mountain[1][2].
Attached were 19 student complaints. Trahan wrote that they contained "serious allegations of criminal and other fraudulent misconduct that warrant further investigation and enforcement"[1][2]. Roys Report coverage also quotes the "volume, consistency, and severity" of the complaints as grounds for action[2]. The letter asked for a look at "potential unlawful misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation, and otherwise engaging in unconscionable behavior"[1][3].
The public learned of this in October. Asheville Watchdog, a nonprofit local newsroom, obtained the letter and complaints through public records requests[1]. So the referral is about three months old. What's new is that people can now read about it.
What the complaints say, and what Excel says back
The complaints say Excel pressured students to sign non-disparagement agreements. That is a contract in which a person promises not to say negative things about the other party. Students also say the school threatened legal action and misrepresented its academic programs[1].
Some complaints allege sexual misconduct between staff and students[1]. The Roys Report describes one complaint in which a 16-year-old was allegedly assaulted by a man in his 20s. It says the school handled the matter in-house[2]. Former students say they were warned that raising concerns, even with another student or their own parents, could get them sued[1].
Parents appear in the record too. The Roys Report reports a complaint from parents who say school lawyers sent them a cease-and-desist letter[2].
Excel denies all of it. Its lawyer, Philip Roth, said the school "utterly and categorically denies the allegations." He also said, "These allegations are simply not true"[1][3]. Roth said the college knew of one reported incident. The school investigated, he said, and both the alleged assailant and the alleged victim denied any assault happened[1].
On the cease-and-desist letters, Roth said they were sent. He called them an "olive branch" and "fair warning" to people he said had broken a commitment they made[1]. He added that the school could have sued instead[1].
The man at the center of seven complaints
Excel's listed president and CEO is Vidar "Lee" Byberg. He is a former business executive who ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican in Minnesota[1][7].
Seven of the complaints say the school's real leader is someone else. They name Nicholas Dimitris, a pastor[1]. Dimitris pleaded guilty in 2011 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and ordered to pay $3.27 million in restitution[1].
That conviction is on the record. Whether he runs Excel is an allegation. Nothing we reviewed settles it.
A school the state can license but can't investigate
Behind the dispute over facts sits a question about who can check a school like Excel at all. The UNC System licenses private colleges in the state. A licensed college must meet state standards, and the state can pull its license.
Excel isn't licensed that way. It operates under a religious exemption, which it received in 2020 after the UNC System declined to extend its earlier interim permit[1][7]. Under state law, the Board of Governors' job with such schools is narrow. It decides whether their degree programs count as religious education[1][4][5]. After that, its power mostly ends.
The UNC System says that leaves it no legal tool to investigate student complaints. That, it says, is why it passed them to the Justice Department[1][4]. In its view, forwarding them is the responsible move. It is not a finding that Excel is guilty.
Supporters of the exemption see it as protecting religious freedom. The state, they argue, shouldn't judge how a church teaches its faith. Critics see a gap. A school can enroll students and charge them money without the checks a licensed college faces.
Accreditation adds another layer. It is a review by an outside, recognized group that checks basic academic standards. Federal student aid, credit transfers and many employers depend on it. Excel isn't accredited, and it explains its approach on its own website[7][2]. To its supporters, that is an open choice about mission. To the complaining students, the question is whether the school was honest about what it meant for their credits and careers[1]. Credits from an unaccredited school may be hard to transfer or show to an employer[7].
Two ways to read the same stack of paper
Former students and parents see a pattern. Nineteen separate complaints with a similar story are, to them, evidence and not a grudge. They say young people were harmed and then told to keep quiet[1][2]. They want an outside authority to investigate and hold people accountable. Some may also want release from agreements they say were used against them. Those who spoke out say they still fear being sued[1].
Excel sees a fairness problem. A public agency sent serious accusations to state prosecutors without asking the school for its side. Excel says neither the UNC System nor the Justice Department contacted it, and it learned of the letter from reporters[1][3]. A fair-minded supporter would add a principle. A religious school that chose a faith-based model, and openly gave up accreditation, shouldn't be judged guilty because complaints with names redacted were bundled together[7]. Of the 19, 14 are signed, with names redacted in the records. Four are anonymous, and one is unclear.
Excel also has a lot at stake. More bad press or an investigation could hurt enrollment and donations. It could also lead to legal action[1][4].
The UNC System has its own interest. It wants to meet its duty as the state's licensing body. It also wants to avoid blame later if the allegations prove true, and to stay inside the limits of its authority[4][6]. Its letter has put the school under scrutiny. It has also shown how little power the system has over religiously exempt schools, which could prompt calls to change the law[1][4].
Who has told the story, and what's still unknown
Nearly all coverage traces back to Asheville Watchdog. Its headline said the UNC System requested an investigation "after flood of complaints." The word "flood" frames 19 complaints as overwhelming, and its opening links the school to a "convicted felon." Still, the piece names its sources, prints the college's denial and notes the school wasn't contacted[1].
Christian accountability outlets picked it up. MinistryWatch also used "flood" and followed the Watchdog closely. It included the lawyer's denial and focused on the ministry's leadership and governance[3]. The Roys Report went further. Its headline turned "non-disparagement agreements" into "NDAs" and "sexual misconduct" into "sexual assaults," and said the school was "hiding" them. The Roys Report keeps the attribution to students and includes the denial[2].
We found no coverage from national outlets on the left or right. We also found no coverage outside the U.S. One caution: a Nigerian outlet ran a 2025 story about a different, unrelated "Excel College."
None of the allegations has been tested by a court or agency. As of Oct. 25, the N.C. Department of Justice hasn't said publicly whether it opened a case. The attorney general's office handles consumer protection, and claims of fraud or misrepresentation by a school can fall under it. Sexual assault claims are usually handled by local police and district attorneys. Which office takes up what, if any, is the open question. Excel, meanwhile, keeps operating under its exemption.
Summary
A small, unaccredited Christian school near Black Mountain, N.C., called Excel College is accused in 19 student complaints of misconduct and of silencing critics. The University of North Carolina System licenses and oversees private colleges in the state. In a July 20 letter, it sent those complaints to the N.C. Department of Justice. The letter asked the state to investigate Excel "for potential unlawful misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation, and otherwise engaging in unconscionable behavior"[1][3]. Asheville Watchdog, a nonprofit local newsroom, obtained the letter and complaints through public records requests[1].
The complaints say Excel pressured students to sign non-disparagement agreements, threatened legal action and misrepresented its academic programs[1]. Some include allegations of sexual misconduct between staff and students[1]. The Roys Report describes a complaint that a 16-year-old student was assaulted by a man in his 20s and that the school handled it in-house[2]. Former students say they were warned that raising concerns, even with another student or their own parents, could lead to a lawsuit[1]. The Roys Report also reports a complaint from parents who say school lawyers sent them a cease-and-desist letter[2]. Seven complaints claim the school's real leader is Nicholas Dimitris, a pastor who pleaded guilty in 2011 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The school's listed president and CEO is Vidar "Lee" Byberg[1].
Excel denies all of it. Its lawyer, Philip Roth, said the school "utterly and categorically denies the allegations" and that "These allegations are simply not true"[1][3]. Roth said the college knew of one reported incident. He said it investigated and that both the alleged assailant and the alleged victim denied any assault happened[1]. He described the cease-and-desist letters as an "olive branch" giving "fair warning" to people he said had broken a commitment they made[1]. Excel also says neither the UNC System nor the Justice Department contacted it. It says it learned of the letter from reporters[1][3].
The main dispute is over what actually happened at Excel. Former students describe a pattern. The school says the claims are false. Behind that sits a second question: who has the power to check a school like Excel at all. Excel runs under a religious exemption from state licensing. The UNC System says that leaves it no legal power to investigate student complaints. That is why it passed them to the Justice Department[1][4]. As of Oct. 25, we found no public word on whether the Justice Department has opened a case.
The Event
On July 20, 2026, a lawyer for the UNC System, Brad Trahan, sent the N.C. Department of Justice a letter asking it to investigate Excel College. Excel is a small Christian school in Ridgecrest, near Black Mountain[1][2]. The letter came with 19 student complaints. Trahan wrote that they contained "serious allegations of criminal and other fraudulent misconduct that warrant further investigation and enforcement," and that their "volume, consistency, and severity" warranted an investigation[1][2]. Asheville Watchdog obtained the records through public records requests and reported on them in October 2026. The college's lawyer denied the allegations[1].
Undisputed Facts
- The UNC System sent the N.C. Department of Justice a letter dated July 20, 2026, asking for an investigation of Excel College[1][3].
- The letter came with 19 student complaints, which Asheville Watchdog obtained through public records requests[1].
- Excel College is not accredited. It operates under a religious exemption from state licensing, granted in 2020 after the UNC system declined to extend its earlier interim permit[1][7].
- Under state law, the Board of Governors' role with religiously exempt schools is limited to deciding whether their degree programs count as religious education[1][4][5].
- Excel's listed president and CEO is Vidar "Lee" Byberg, a former business executive who ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Republican in Minnesota[1][7].
- Nicholas Dimitris pleaded guilty in 2011 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and ordered to pay $3.27 million in restitution[1].
- Excel's lawyer, Philip Roth, said the school "utterly and categorically denies the allegations"[1][3].
- Excel says neither the UNC System nor the Justice Department contacted it about the letter. It says it learned of the letter from Asheville Watchdog[1][3].
The Pressure
Strip away the moralizing and blame. What structural realities persist regardless of which narrative wins?
- The religious-exemption gap
- North Carolina law lets religious schools skip the normal state license. Here is how it works. A licensed private college must meet state standards, and its license can be pulled. A religiously exempt school only has to show that its degrees are in religious education. Once it does, the UNC System's power over it mostly ends[4][5]. Supporters see this as protecting religious freedom: the state should not judge how a church teaches its faith. Critics see a gap. A school can enroll students and charge them money without the checks a licensed college faces. The UNC System says this gap is why it could only pass the complaints along[1].
- Accreditation as a signal
- Accreditation is a review by an outside, recognized group. It checks whether a school meets basic academic standards. Federal student aid, credit transfers and many employers depend on it. Excel is not accredited, and it explains its approach on its own website[7][2]. To Excel's supporters, skipping accreditation is an open choice about its mission. To the students who complained, the question is whether the school was honest about what that meant for their credits and careers[1].
- Silencing agreements
- A non-disparagement agreement bars a person from saying negative things about the other party. It is common in business. Students say Excel used these agreements, along with threats of lawsuits, to stop them from reporting concerns[1]. Whether a court would enforce such terms against people reporting a possible crime is a legal question no court has ruled on in this case.
Material realityThe allegations have not been tested by any court or agency. What is on the record is the July 20 referral, the 19 complaints, Dimitris's 2011 federal conviction, Excel's religious exemption and the school's denial[1][3]. Excel keeps running under its exemption. As of Oct. 25, the N.C. Justice Department has not said in public whether it opened a case. The UNC System says it has no legal tool to act on complaints itself[1][4]. Students who signed the agreements say they still fear being sued[1].
Narrative as a weaponAsheville Watchdog is shaping how the public sees this story more than anyone else. It obtained the records, and nearly all coverage traces back to it. Its framing points to a pattern of abuse and to a convicted felon's link to the school. Christian accountability outlets have amplified the story. The Roys Report in particular sharpens the language into "NDAs" and "sexual assaults." Excel, through its lawyer, wants readers to see a set of false claims that were sent to prosecutors behind its back. The UNC System wants to look careful and limited: an agency passing complaints along, not making accusations. The N.C. Justice Department has shaped the story mostly by saying nothing. No national outlet on either the left or right has picked the story up so far.
How Each Side Sees It
Each major actor’s view — how it frames things, its underlying incentive, and how it’s materially affected. Tap a side to read it.
Frames it asThey say this is about young people who were harmed and then told to keep quiet. In their account, the school had students sign non-disparagement agreements. A non-disparagement agreement is a contract in which a person promises not to say negative things about the other party. Students say the school then warned them that almost any complaint, even to a parent, could bring a lawsuit[1]. Parents in one complaint say school lawyers sent them a cease-and-desist letter[2]. In their view, 19 separate complaints that tell a similar story are evidence of a pattern, not a grudge. They also say the school misrepresented what its programs were worth academically, and that the public is told one leader while another really runs it[1][2].
WhyThey want an outside authority to investigate, hold people accountable, and warn future students. Some may also want to be freed from the agreements they say were used against them[1][2].
Impact on themThose who spoke out say they risk being sued over the agreements they signed[1]. Credits or degrees from an unaccredited school may be hard to transfer or use with employers. That raises the cost of having enrolled[7].
Frames it asThe school says the allegations are false: "These allegations are simply not true"[1]. It says it investigated the one reported incident it knew of, and that both the alleged assailant and the alleged victim denied any assault happened[1]. It describes its cease-and-desist letters as a fair warning to people who it says broke a commitment they made, and says it could have sued instead[1]. It also raises a fairness point. A public agency sent serious accusations to state prosecutors without ever asking the school for its side, and the school learned about it from reporters[1][3]. A fair-minded supporter would add a principle. A religious school that chose a faith-based model, and openly gave up accreditation, should not be judged guilty because complaints with names redacted, some of them anonymous, were bundled together[7].
WhyIt wants to protect its reputation, keep enrolling students and keep its religious exemption. It also wants to head off any state enforcement action[1][4].
Impact on themA Justice Department investigation or more bad press could hurt enrollment and donations. It could also lead to legal action. Claims about Dimitris's role, if they spread, could damage trust in how the school is run[1].
Frames it asThe system says it is doing the job the law gives it, and no more. Religious-exemption law gives it only a narrow job: deciding whether a school's programs count as religious education. It has no power to investigate complaints or revoke an exemption over them[1][4][5]. So when it saw what it called the "volume, consistency, and severity" of the complaints, it sent them to the agency that does have that power[1][2]. In its view, sending the complaints on is the responsible move, not a finding that Excel is guilty.
WhyIt wants to meet its duty as the state's licensing body, and to avoid being blamed later if the allegations prove true. It also wants to stay within the limits of its legal authority[4][6].
Impact on themIts letter has now put the school under public scrutiny. The case also shows how little power it has over religiously exempt schools, which could lead to calls to change the law[1][4].
Frames it asAs of Oct. 25, we found no public statement from the department about whether it has opened an investigation. The attorney general's office handles consumer protection, and claims of fraud or misrepresentation by a school can fall under that power. Claims of sexual assault are usually handled by local police and district attorneys.
WhyIt must decide whether the complaints amount to a case it can bring under its powers, and which agency should handle any criminal claims.
Impact on themThe department is under public pressure to act or to explain why it has not. Its choice will affect how the state handles complaints about other religiously exempt schools.
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The Bias Ledger average rating 4
The same story, as framed by outlets across the spectrum, ordered least to most biased. The bias score (1 = straight, 10 = heavily spun) is an AI assessment of that framing — click an outlet to see its track record. The tell is the word choice or omission that reveals the angle.
| Outlet | Vantage | Bias | How they frame it | The tell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asheville Watchdog | U.S. local nonprofit investigative | 3 | UNC System requests investigation of Christian college near Black Mountain after flood of complaints | The word "flood" frames 19 complaints as overwhelming, and the opening links the school to a "convicted felon." Still, the piece names its sources, prints the college's denial and notes that the college was never contacted. The reporting rests on public records. |
| MinistryWatch | U.S. Christian ministry-accountability | 4 | Excel College Faces Flood of Complaints | It repeats the "flood" framing. It follows the Watchdog's reporting closely and includes the lawyer's denial. Its focus is the ministry's leadership and governance rather than the state's oversight gap. |
| The Roys Report | U.S. evangelical abuse-accountability | 5 | Students accuse NC Christian college of using NDAs to hide sexual assaults | The headline sharpens the record in two ways. It turns "non-disparagement agreements" into "NDAs" and "sexual misconduct" into "sexual assaults" (plural). It also says students accuse the school of "hiding" those assaults. Coverage describes a "mafia-like code of silence." The attribution to students is kept, and the college's denial is included. |
References
- UNC System requests investigation of Christian college near Black Mountain after flood of complaints — Asheville Watchdog · Nonprofit local newsroom founded in 2020 by retired professional journalists. Funded by donors and foundations. Investigative, focused on accountability.
- Students accuse NC Christian college of using NDAs to hide sexual assaults — The Roys Report · Donor-funded evangelical investigative site run by journalist Julie Roys. Focuses on abuse and misconduct in churches and ministries.
- Excel College Faces Flood of Complaints — MinistryWatch · Donor-funded Christian nonprofit that rates and investigates ministries for financial and governance accountability.
- Religious Exemption — University of North Carolina System · State public university system and North Carolina's licensing body for private colleges. The government agency that made the referral.
- Licensure under NC Gen. Stat. § 116-15 of Religious Institutions (policy) — University of North Carolina System · Official state policy document from the agency that made the referral.
- Student Complaint Policy (PDF) — University of North Carolina System · Official state policy document from the agency that made the referral.
- Accreditation / Our Approach — Excel College · The school's own promotional website. Self-interested party to the dispute.