The University ended four years of litigation by agreeing to pay $112,500 to the second of two kinesiology instructors who alleged they were pressured to change the failing grades of football players in 2000.
Tiffany Terrell Mayne said in her lawsuit that she was told to change 10 football players’ grades so they would remain eligible for the Peach Bowl.
In a three-sentence Sept. 13 news release, Michael Ruffner, vice chancellor of communications and university relations, said the University settled with Mayne to “avoid the expense associated with further litigation.”
The news release did not give any details of the settlement.
The University continues to deny any wrongdoing, and the NCAA never placed the University on probation.
Ruffner said in a telephone interview, “The University considers the matter to be closed, and I don’t want to give it any undue importance by commenting further.”
Caroline Owen, kinesiology instructor who sued in 2002, cited similar allegations. She received $150,000 to cover her court and attorney costs and for any emotional stress she may have undergone during the incident, as well as letters of recommendation when the University settled with her in 2004.
Owen claimed in her lawsuit that Amelia Lee, kinesiology department head, told her that she “needed to keep the matter quiet and not discuss her findings with anyone else” when Owen told her that she suspected papers written by the football players were plagiarized.
Those 10 football players received extra credit in their introductory kinesiology class through a special post-semester study session designed to raise their grades.
The Advocate reported Sept. 17 that the University gave a written report to the NCAA, which concluded that the study session for six of the players was legal because all who attended were learning-disabled and eligible for it.
Lee could not be reached for comment.
Owen told The Dallas Morning News on Feb. 22, “I don’t know how you can pay somebody $150,000 and comply with all their requests if there’s no [acknowledgement of] wrongdoing.”
Both women said they received death threats as a result of their lawsuit.
After investigating the allegations, the University admitted five secondary NCAA violations, transferred the former head of the Academic Center for Student Athletes and moved control of the center from the athletic department to the provost.
Though the University was never placed on probation, the NCAA accepted the University’s self-imposed penalties, which included losing two scholarships for its 2005 signing class and forfeiting four official visits that prospective recruits could make during the 2003-04 recruiting season.
Contact Jeff Jeffrey at [email protected]