Clemson’s Crisis Playbook: Emails Expose Coordination on Controversial Development

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by JENN WOOD

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While Clemson University publicly insisted it had no involvement in a controversial Upstate development, internal emails obtained via the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) have continued to tell a different story — one of mutual self-interest, coordinated messaging and behind-the-scenes crisis management involving the university, a regional housing conglomerate and a powerhouse public relations firm.

FITSNews previously reported on Clemson’s proximity to the Newry Mill deal – a proposed 5,200-home development in Oconee County spearheaded by United Homes Group (UHG). That’s a company led by Clemson mega-donor Michael Nieri – a company which (until recently) featured former university president James P. Clements and current Clemson trustee Nikki Haley on its corporate board.

Clements and Haley have since resigned their board seats – while Clements has stepped down as president of the school. Haley remains one of Clemson’s seven unconstitutional “lifetime” trustees, however.

These resignations have come as scrutiny of the Newry deal intensifies – in large part due to public documents obtained by Oconee County government under FOIA.

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The latest batch of FOIA records released to Oconee County (and reviewed by FITSNews) show how senior Clemson officials worked closely with an outside public relations firm — NP Strategy — to manage media narratives surrounding the now-abandoned project. In several instances, these emails showed Clemson staff helping craft language which was later issued publicly under the name of UHG, the politically connected developer whose ties to the university have been repeatedly downplayed.

The records have provided the latest evidence directly contradicting Clemson’s repeated public claims that its role was limited to a “routine review” – and that it had no meaningful involvement with the project.

“This was not transparency,” Oconee County Council chairman Matthew Durham wrote this week. “This was a coordinated deception campaign.”

Durham’s independent investigation – launched in response to alleged threats against the county by the developer – has driven much of the scrutiny into Clemson’s involvement in the deal.

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PUBLIC RELATIONS…

Emails obtained under FOIA show that by mid-October 2025 — as scrutiny intensified and county officials demanded answers — Clemson’s senior communications leadership had reached out to NP Strategy, a Charleston-based public relations firm known for high-stakes crisis response work.

On October 14, 2025, Sharon Martin – Clemson’s vice president for marketing and communications – contacted NP Strategy senior director Kelsey Barlow Koch seeking assistance in responding to what Martin described as a “misperception that Clemson and our president/trustee is involved” in the Newry housing development.

The request came less than a week after FITSNews published its first report on Durham’s inquiries into the controversial project.

What followed went far beyond general advice, however.

In one email chain, Barlow circulated draft language with Clemson officials for a statement ultimately attributed publicly to United Homes Group and sent to reporter Caleb Gilbert of Upstate Today. The FOIA records showed the language was reviewed, edited, and refined through coordinated discussions involving Clemson communications staff, NP Strategy consultants, and representatives tied to UHG.

The end product was also noticed to Clemson’s entire board of trustees, its president and several top staffers…

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In other words, a taxpayer-funded public university worked closely with a paid crisis communications firm to help shape and distribute messaging on behalf of a private development company — while publicly denying any coordination or involvement in the underlying project.

“Who paid for these consultants?” Durham asked. “Did a public university use taxpayer resources to help manage messaging for a private development company?”

A representative from NP Strategy denied reports that the firm had been retained by Clemson, saying the company’s parent law firm – Maynard Nexsen – enjoyed a “longstanding relationship” with UHG.

Either way, the latest FOIA responses revealed Clemson was not merely reacting to media inquiries about the Newry deal – but actively managing perceptions and coordinating responses across institutional and corporate lines, and leading discussions as to how the school’s involvement in the project might be perceived in the event it were fully disclosed.

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RELATED | CLEMSON’S DENIALS COLLAPSE UNDER NEW FOIA EVIDENCE

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EMAILS UNDERCUT PUBLIC DENIALS

Beyond the public relations strategy itself, the FOIA records further undermined Clemson’s claims that it was unaware of — or uninvolved in — the project’s housing component.

Internal emails described the Newry development as “an exciting project,” referenced “strategic and innovative thoughts,” and documented Clemson officials’ participation in site visits, review of maps, discussion of density and phasing, and exchange of planning concepts with UHG executives.

In a November email, Mark Hart — UHG’s vice president of land development — provided Clemson leadership with a “sneak peek” of the first phase of the Newry deal that included 430 housing units, including single-family homes, duplexes, and multifamily buildings. That disclosure directly contradicted later public claims from Clemson that school officials were unaware of the scope of the project – which was referred internally as “Clemson West.”

Other emails showed Clemson officials discussing regional housing market data, enrollment growth and development pressure “around the University area” as indicators of the project’s potential success.

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The FOIA records also clarified who was involved in these discussions — and at what level. On the developer side, emails referenced senior United Homes Group leaders including:

• Michael Nieri, founder and chairman of United Homes Group
• Mark Hart, vice president of land development
• Chandler Coggeshall, upstate sales manager
• John B. West, upstate division manager
• Jeff Skeris, president of Pennington Communities

On the Clemson side, the discussions involved top university leaders including:

• Rick Petillo, chief financial officer
• Max Allen, senior vice president and chief of staff to the president
• Tony Wagner, chief operating officer
• Angie Leidinger, senior vice president for external affairs and advisor to the board of trustees
• Tanju Karanfil, senior vice president for research

These were not peripheral staffers engaged in informal conversations — but senior decision-makers on both sides of the relationship engaged in high-level discussions.

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‘CAREFUL’ WITH THE TRUTH

Perhaps most revealing exchange was an October 21, 2025 email thread in which Clemson leadership discussed how to respond to questions from a reporter with The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier.

“I also want to make sure that we are careful in our response about the University’s involvement and knowledge of the project if needed,” Leidinger wrote.

As previously noted, Leidinger is Clemson’s top lobbyist before the S.C. General Assembly – a position which requires her word to count for something with state lawmakers, staffers and executive branch officials.

Emails obtained under FOIA showed Leidinger previously coordinated with Petillo, Allen, Wagner and others about the “Clemson West” development – making sure they knew their boss had “awareness” of the project.

“Because the President sits on the Board of Great Southern Homes’ parent company, he has asked not to be involved, however, does have an awareness of the opportunity,” Leidinger wrote in one email.

In other words, the boss was watching…

Emails obtained under FOIA further showed Leidinger confirming that Petillo and another Clemson official, vice president for real estate strategy Laura Stoner, would join UHG officials on a January 2024 trip to Purdue University to view a similar development.

After the Purdue trip, Petillo sent an email to developers and Clemson staff containing an “agenda” for an upcoming meeting between corporate leaders and school officials. The agenda proposed by Petillo for this meeting included a “recap of (the) Purdue visit” as well as an “update on (Newry) project” and thoughts on “next steps and timing.”

That is definitional coordination at the highest levels, people.

When scrutiny of the deal began to mount, though, all of a sudden Leidinger wanted school officials to be “careful” in discussing the school’s “involvement and knowledge.”

A little late for that, right?

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SHIFTING STORIES

During Clemson’s bowl appearance in New York City this past weekend, its outgoing president was briefly interviewed about the controversy by sports reporter Chapel Fowler of The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper.

According to Fowler, Clements made it clear his decision had nothing to do with the scandal surrounding the Newry project – or any outside pressure emanating from it.

“No,” Clements told Fowler when asked specifically about the Newry controversy prompting his resignation. “No, no, no. I needed a break for my health, wanted to spend more time with my family. So that was the decision.”

Should we take anyone at Clemson at their word anymore, though?

For months, Clemson’s public explanations evolved as new information emerged. First, the university denied knowledge of the project. Then it admitted knowledge but denied involvement. Later, it denied involvement in the housing component — despite internal emails clearly showing otherwise. Finally, it claimed the project was never a UHG development at all.

Yet Clemson’s own internal communications repeatedly referred to the Newry proposal as a UHG or Great Southern Homes project – and involved senior leadership from those companies throughout the process.

Taken together, the FOIA emails add another chapter to a controversy that already includes a 2017 Clemson University Foundation land sale to Michael Nieri near the South Carolina Botanical Garden, paid corporate board ties between Clemson’s president and UHG, and a private jet trip to Purdue University involving Clemson officials and UHG executives.

Durham says additional FOIA batches are forthcoming.

“The paper trail doesn’t lie,” he said. “Sunlight is the only way to keep these deals honest.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.

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