USC’s top fundraising official resigns after two high-profile donors were alienated

The University of South Carolina’s top fundraising official has resigned after the university alienated two of its biggest donors in the last year.

Monica Delisa, who had worked as vice president for development since January, resigned this week to “pursue other opportunities that are better aligned with my long-term goals,” she said in her resignation letter.

Delisa thanked her colleagues and expressed optimism that fundraising officials could meet their goals.

Stacey Bradley will fill her position in an interim role while also serving as Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Academic Support, according to a message sent to fundraising staff by USC Interim President Harris Pastides.

“While Stacey is not currently part of the development area, she is an experienced manager who brings a wealth of institutional knowledge to the role,” Pastides wrote. “She also is a leader of integrity who greatly respects the expertise of staff at all levels of the university.”

USC spokesman Jeff Stensland echoed Pastides’ sentiment, saying USC was “thankful for her service to the university.”

Delisa’s resignation follows two high-profile issues with mega-donors in the last year. In March, Darla Moore, who spent $70 million funding USC’s school of business that bears her name, called her donation to USC “the deepest regret of my life” after USC failed to reach out following the death of Moore’s mother.

In November, Nephron Pharmaceuticals CEO Lou Kennedy, who estimated she has donated roughly $40 million to USC, resigned from the university’s presidential search after she said Board of Trustees Chair Dorn Smith disrespected her.

Following the Moore fiasco, Delisa laid out a $2 million plan to fix “systemic” issues in USC’s development office, which manages donor relations, according to internal emails The State obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The systemic problems included a spate of resignations and fundraising employees not being evaluated on following up with donors, Delisa said in the email obtained through FOIA.

This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 2:20 PM.