The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Volume XVI, Number 34
Charlotte, North Carolina
Monday, December 8, 1980
Pat Kyle
Year-Old Sex Suit Settled
By Chip Wilson
Carolina Journal Staff Writer
A lawsuit filed by Patricia Kyle, a
former UNCC political science pro
fessor who was denied tenure, was
settled out of court, according to a
statement released by Robert Snyder,
acting vice-chancellor for Academic
Patricia Kyle
Affairs.
University spokesman Ken Sanford
said terms of the settlement of the
year-long sex discrimination dispute
were presented to and approved by
the UNCC Board of Trustees. The
board met in executive session and
would not disclose the exact terms of
the settlement.
Sources close to the dispute, how
ever, say Kyle did not win back her
former job, as the suit requested. In
stead, a financial agreement was ac
cepted by attorneys for the former in
structor.
Kyle would not comment on the
agreement when contacted by a
Carolina Journal reporter. However,
the cash settlement of the legal
dispute apparently pleased her. A
source close to Kyle remarked, “The
financial agreement must have been
satisfactory. If not, she wouldn’t
have settled out of court.”
The controversy arose when Kyle,
who taught at UNCC for six years,
was considered for a contracted
teaching post. The unviversity denied
tenure without offering any reason,
according to a former faculty member
who had participated in the dispute.
After the tenured post was denied
her, Kyle went through “14 different
channels” of lengthy appeal pro
cesses during the fall of 1977. She
later filed a suit in federal court in
September, 1979. She was
represented first by Charlotte at
torney Eddie Knox and later by the
firm of Chambers, Stein, Ferguson
and Becton, lawyers noted for civil-
rights litigation.
The same lawyers also represent
Shirley Hempborn Baptiste, a former
lecturer in Nursing and Human Deve
lopment and Learning, who also filed
a race/sex discrimination complaint
against UNCC and the UNC Board of
Governors.
Schley Lyons, who chaired the
political science department when
Kyle taught, said he would not com
ment on the case because he was in
structed not to when Kyle filed suit.
When pressed for details of Kyle’s
consideration for tenure Lyons only
said that the proper university pro
cedure for contract review was follow
ed.
Despite “1,700 hours of work and
- thousands and thousands of dollars
spent on the lawsuit,” Patricia Kyle
says she now holds a “lucrative job”
operating a marketing research firm.
The writer of numerous articles,
Kyle also authored Integrating the
Neglected Majority, a book surveying
the status of women in society.
While at UNCC, Kyle drew upon
her experience as a United Nations
worker in France to form the Model
U.N. Club. She also taught the prac
ticum course, in which students
received credit for taking part in
mock U.N. sessions.
Mystery Solved
Photo By Debbie Miller
Students at Saturday night’s homecoming basketball game found the answer to the campus’s most perplexing mystery since
— who put the “balloons” on the Belk Tower. The riddle was solved when representatives of the Student Government
Association displayed the remains of their handiwork. According to Student Body President Ron Olsen, the idea came to a group
SGA members at a recent UNC Student Government Association meeting.
UPB Gets New
Fine Arts Chair
By Teresa Skipper
Carolina Journal News Writer
Senior economics major Stephanie Thompson
has been chosen to fill a recently vacated position
on the University Program Board (UPB).
Thompson replaced Sharon Lane as head of the
Lectures and Fine Arts Committee when Lane
resigned.
Thompson is now tentatively planning a cultural
series with dance, theater and music. The series
will be spread out over the semester with art one
month and music another.
Basically the committee will be made up of the
same people. However, Thompson says she
“welcomes suggestions and help on the
committee. ”
Chairperson of UPB, Mac Ritchie, speaks highly
of Thompson. “Since being elected at an at-large
position, she has really excelled and outdone
herself,” he said.-
Inside
UPB Wants Ideas On
Jam-Up Music ... Page 3
UNCC Considering ASU
Soccer Coach ... Page 11