Thursday morning, a Wake County jury convicted former Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps, a third generation holder of statewide office, of campaign fundraising and reporting violations. A few hours later, Jay Jenkins, a member of the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame, died at age 84.
Both entered life with both the advantages and burdens of important family names. Jenkins’ father was both the pastor of the Boiling Springs Baptist Church and president of what is now Gardner-Webb University. Jay’s family history, outlined in his obituary, includes uncles, cousins and other relatives who contributed greatly to North Carolina and who did so with the greatest integrity.
Jenkins did nothing to diminish that family name during his 84 years.
His contributions to his profession were considerable. There’s many a star journalist today who will tell you that they learned much at the feet of this gentle man.
When he was finished with journalism, Jenkins concluded his career with the University of North Carolina. He worked directly for then-President Bill Friday lobbying legislators and handling press relations.
Those who knew Jenkins well said that integrity was his most obvious virtue. I suspect that that integrity explained why, on the day that this devoted liberal editor’s family held visitation that an 83-year-old friend and adversary from Raleigh hobbled into the funeral home to say goodbye. Jesse Helms and Jay Jenkins probably never agreed on a single thing, but they held a mutual respect for each other as men who did what each thought was right.
Now think about the family history that Meg Scott inherited. A grandfather who was revered in the state’s rural areas for his contributions as agriculture commissioner and governor. (Kerr Scott was also a U.S. senator.) Her father was lieutenant governor, governor and then president of the community college system. Her uncle Ralph was a powerful state senator.
If there is a political family that has served North Carolina better than the Scotts of Alamance County, it’s not noted in my history books.
But what did Meg Scott do with her birthright? She sullied it. She besmirched it. She assured that forever, in North Carolina’s history books, there’ll be a footnote to Kerr Scott’s rural roads program. It will say his granddaughter served time for felony convictions.
Throughout the investigation and trial, I wondered how Meg Scott Phipps could have risked incarceration and her family’s finances just to be agriculture commissioner. After Thursday, I asked how she could squander that gift of a beloved and respected family name for such a small reward.
Jay Jenkins inherited a great name and passed it, enhanced and unharmed, to his son. Meg Scott will be passing that footnote to her children. That should haunt her most as she sits in the Wake County Jail.
Paul T. O’Connor works for the Capital Press Association in Raleigh.
