Submitted by BlueNC on
Sun, 07/18/2021 - 18:54
LENOIR-RHYNE GIRLS BASKETBALL PLAYERS SUE UNIVERSITY OVER CENSORSHIP: One player, Laney Fox, released an audio recording of a Zoom meeting in March during which Smith said he did not want her back. Fox, who is white, later posted an angry four-page letter on Facebook accusing university President Fred Whitt of “failing Black students and athletes on this campus.” Now, the divisions within the Lutheran-affiliated university have surfaced 60 miles away in the Mecklenburg County courts as a $26 million lawsuit pitting the departing student-athletes against their former coach and school. In their complaint, the players including Butler High graduate Michaela Dixon of Matthews say they were either thrown off the team or pressured to quit in retaliation for their stands against racism and police violence and in support of social justice. Five of the plaintiffs are white; four are black. Fox’s dismissal, the president said at the t
Monday News: Not just UNC
bluenc.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bluenc.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Watch Now: Lenoir-Rhyne celebrates 2021 graduates Friday morning; see more than 40 photos from the event
hickoryrecord.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hickoryrecord.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lenoir-Rhyne students and some faculty marched from Hickory City Hall to the university in protest of racism on Thursday.
The demonstration comes less than a week after former Lenoir-Rhyne basketball player Laney Fox published an open letter saying she was cut from the team for speaking up on racial justice.
Fox said other players who spoke up on social justice issues, including most of the Black players had either been cut or transferred as a result of the environment on the team.
Nakia Hooks, a Black basketball player who is transferring, said athletes were told they would have their scholarships substantially reduced or that they would not be brought back.