"Vance's Boys" Over the years, some male students have entered into consensual relationships with Fulkerson. Those who did were known within the program as "Vance's Boys," said one female UNC graduate who asked not to be identified. "But over time," she said, "some were forever changed by these relationships. Some became dark and very depressed." "Vance's Boys" went along, Gunn said, "because he was always talking about his show-business connections. He'd say things like, 'I am going to hook you up in New York and you are going to be a star.' "I think he's a pathological liar. I don't know what part of any story he tells is true." In the past two weeks, The Denver Post has heard accounts from more than 10 men who say Fulkerson initiated some form of unwelcome sexual contact. Gunn and others say a discombobulated freshman in his first semester away from home is ill- equipped to fight off advances from the head of his academic department. Christopher Johnson was a 22-year-old senior in 1991, Fulkerson's first year at UNC. Fulkerson invited Johnson to help him make a presentation at a high-school thespian conference in Denver. Johnson was told there would be a group of students, and separate hotel rooms. Instead, that first night, it was Fulkerson and Johnson alone, in a one-bed room. Johnson says Fulkerson got him very drunk, took him to a porn arcade and later initiated an unwelcome sexual act that Johnson says he submitted to, just to get it over with. Johnson filed a written harassment complaint with now retired Dean Howard Skinner, but nothing came of it. Upon Gunn's return from Paris, he says he started sleeping through his days. Favorite teacher Mary Martin Schuttler noticed he was skipping her class and checked on him. Gunn says Schuttler told him she would take his story to Tom McNally, like Fulkerson, one of four department chairs. McNally said last week a meeting was set up with Gunn but that he never showed. Gunn says he knows of no meeting. Instead he awaited a response that never came. When it didn't, he said, "I dropped out of life." He quit school in the middle of his second semester and moved to New York, where he's been for the past 13 years. That a promising UNC freshman's life was permanently altered by the possible miscommunication, Gunn said, speaks to the lack of an infrastructure at the university to handle claims like his. McNally insists he had no idea of any of Fulkerson's alleged bad behavior until after his arrest. "He has been a friend and colleague for 30 years," said McNally, who taught with Fulkerson at Loretto Heights and helped him get hired at UNC in 1991. "But absolutely, positively not. I didn't know about any of that kind of activity. That doesn't mean it's not true - but I didn't see it." Former student Stephen Anson, who said he got fed up with the UNC theater department and quit in the 1991-92 school year, is among dozens who have told The Post that Fulkerson's bad behavior was well-known. "If the university is saying, 'We had no idea,' that's just not true," Anson said. "There is just no way. For anyone to say otherwise, they are either lying or just completely obtuse." That, more than anything, has split the close-knit UNC community - between those who want the healing to begin without another word uttered about the scandal, and those who believe the healing can't begin until the full extent of Fulkerson's actions are known. Some UNC theater grads have formed a Facebook group to commiserate over Fulkerson's arrest. It's called "Rugs, Corsets, and Scandals: An open discussion of the horribly tacky events that are drizzling (excrement) over our beloved program." The sentiment there pervades: If Fulkerson's behavior was such common knowledge among students, how could those in power not also know? "Surely, people at the university knew," Stresen-Reuter said. "That's a given." But one thing has definitely changed: Thirteen years after Gunn left UNC, another student went to his favorite teacher: Schuttler. It was the man who discovered Fulkerson's bathroom camera on June 30. This time, she drove him straight to the police. High schoolers in home Student testimonials about physical impositions by Fulkerson slow to a trickle after 1999-2000, the year Fulkerson took a one-year leave of absence. Retired Dean Skinner said Thursday he can't recall the reason for Fulkerson's sabbatical, but other teachers said they were told Fulkerson had grown disillusioned with teaching and was considering new career options. Instead, he was back at UNC in the fall of 2000. The man who discovered Fulkerson's camera had moved into Fulkerson's house only three days before. On July 2, police executed a search warrant and collected more than 130 DVDs and 50 VHS tapes, though it's not known how many of them contain illicit material. Police also found 29 photographs of nude boys ages 5 to 16. Last summer, Fulkerson directed a special production of "Hairspray" for the Educational Theatre Association's annual festival. More than 50 of the nation's top high-school actors and crew were chosen to come to Greeley to prepare the show for three weeks. Three of them stayed at Fulkerson's house. "This is very hard for an awful lot of people," said ETA executive director Michael Peitz. He said he has no information that any of the students were filmed, but letters have been sent to the families of every cast member, apprising them of the situation. Fulkerson is scheduled to appear in court July 30 and in the meantime is on paid administrative leave. UNC's faculty senate last week passed a resolution expressing concern over the allegations. It said the alleged behavior, if true, would be "profoundly damaging" to the students subjected to it, and the campus as a whole. The faculty senate vowed to conduct a review of university policies once the fall semester begins to make sure they promote a campus atmosphere that is free from abuse or harassment. As for the theater department, McNally said, "Here's a promise from the oldest faculty person here: We will fix what's wrong." And when it comes to teacher-student relations, he added: "I can't imagine another department that's going to be more careful than ours." Police need those taped identified Greeley police say additional counts against UNC professor Vance Fulkerson for filming guests using the bathroom of his home can only be made if individuals on those tapes come forward to identify themselves - and then press charges. Police can't assume identification, age or even lack of consent, said Sgt. Joe Tymkowych, Greeley police spokesman. An additional problem: Police can't show the tapes to potential victims looking to find themselves, out of privacy concerns for everyone else on those tapes. Instead, potential victims are asked to submit a photograph showing what they looked like at the time they might have been videotaped, so that police screeners can then try to match them. For additional information, or for anyone who has information for investigators, call 970-350-9600.
