Dorrance, University Settle With Second Player in Suit
The University has agreed to pay for- fought by UNC through the courts all the
mer UNC soccer player Melissa Jen- way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
nings ’00 $385,000 in a settlement Last year, the Supreme Court declined to
stemming from a sexual harassment lawsuit hear the suit, and Judge M. Blane Michael
that has put head coach Anson Dorrance ’ 74 wrote in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
in the national spotlight for something other Appeals majority opinion that Dorrance’s
than his teams’ 19 national titles in 26 years. conduct “went far beyond simple teasing
The settlement, approved in early Janu- and qualified as sexual harassment.”
ary by members of the UNC System Board A trial had been set for April in federal
of Governors, also obligates Dorrance to court.
submit an apology to all of his players for While Jennings qualified in the agree-any inappropriate conversations he gener- ment that Dorrance never acted upon any
ated about sex. As an institution, the Uni- of his comments, the language he used
versity has agreed to review and revise its made her feel “extremely uncomfortable,” a
sexual harassment policies and procedures letter stated.
by July 15. Nancy Hogshead-Makar, a for- Jennings, a goalie recruit, was cut from
mer Olympic swimmer-turned-assistant law the team in 1998. Keller was the 1996
professor who specializes in women’s equity national college player of the year who
in sport at Florida Coastal School of Law, scored the game-winning goal in the 1996
will conduct the review. NCAA championship game. Her No. 8
The suit was filed in August 1998 by jersey is retired.
Jennings and a second player, Debbie Keller In a statement from the athletics depart-
’ 98, who at the time sought $12 million in ment, Athletics Director Dick Baddour ’ 66
damages against UNC and several Univer- said: “Anson apologized to Ms. Jennings in
sity officials, including Dorrance. Keller set- 1998 for making comments in jest that the
tled out-of-court for $70,000 in 2004, and University thought, and in hindsight he
Dorrance attended sensitivity training ses- agreed, were inappropriate. That’s what
sions for eight years. Anson apologized for in 1998 and it’s the
According to his letter of apology, exact same apology he is giving in 2008.
between August 1996 and June 1998, Dor- The only difference is that the University is
rance talked in group settings with his paying the plaintiff $385,000, which is
players about their sexual activities and intended to reimburse her for most of the
relationships with men. attorneys’ fees she accumulated over the
“I understand that my participation in nine-year history of this case.”
those discussions was inappropriate and Baddour said Jennings’ and Keller’s
unacceptable,” his letter said. “I apologize to charges were an anomaly in Dorrance’s
Ms. Jennings and her family, as well as all career, pointing out that many of his for-
other members of the soccer team.” mer players were eager to testify that they
The athletics department will pay the believed the case had no merit.
settlement from its “The allegations
2007-08 operating that were made in
budget, bypassing the 1998 were unprece-
use of state funds and dented. There were
tuition dollars. no allegations against
In the suit’s early him in the 20 years
stages, Dorrance and before the plaintiffs
the University made their claims
argued that the sex- and there have been
ual discussions noted no allegations of a
by Jennings and similar nature in the
Keller were innocent 10 years since. Anson
side products of has been a tremen-
“locker room ban- dous representative
ter.” As the suit of The University of
matured, it was North Carolina.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
For Seventh Year,
UNC No. 1 as BestValue
Among Public Universities
For a seventh straight year, Carolina
ranks first among the best values at
the top 100 U.S. public university
campuses, according to Kiplinger’s Personal
Finance magazine.
The magazine’s February issue examined data from 500 public four-year colleges and universities to identify the top
100 schools based on outstanding academic
quality plus an affordable price tag.
Chancellor James Moeser said the magazine’s ranking reflected the strong support
the 16-campus UNC System has received
for need-based
financial aid from the
N.C. General Assembly — five UNC
System campuses
were among the top
68 schools in the
magazine’s list.
Kiplinger’s said
Carolina “represents a divergent trend: a
commitment to meet the financial need of
all qualified students and to fill that need
with grants, not loans. Its program, called
the Carolina Covenant, reaches out to
bright high school students from low-income families. The program allows participating students to graduate debt-free.”
Kiplinger’s also noted that the University’s
total costs for North Carolinians — including tuition, fees, room, board and books —
amount to less than $14,000; out-of-staters
pay less than $30,000. “For their money, students enjoy world-class research facilities, a
historic campus that recently underwent
[renovations and new construction] and the
collected wisdom of distinguished faculty
members, including Oliver Smithies, winner
of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine,” the magazine reported.
Kiplinger’s said UNC ranked first after
an analysis that focused on academic quality, including the percentage of the 2006-
07 freshman class scoring 600 or higher on
each component of the SAT (or 24 or
higher on the ACT), admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios and graduation rates. Then the magazine ranked each
school based on cost and financial aid. The
magazine gave more weight to academic
quality than costs.
