Editor,
Reading between the lines on the “amicable” settlement of the Sylvia Lopez sexual harassment case against coach Locksley: I’m pretty sure what it means is that Ms. Lopez gets her UNM job back and, I hope, a big hunk of money in exchange for withdrawing her Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claim and making the public statement as reported in the article in the Daily Lobo — all of course while promising not to ever say anything against Locksley again. Although the Lobo says she “recanted her previous position” in the University-issued statement, this probably means that she withdrew her complaint, not that she said that Locksley didn’t say what he said and do what he did. Most likely, Ms. Lopez was pressured to settle this case by the administration and by the fear of being unemployed in a bad job market with no job reference. I support her and sympathize with her being pitted against such formidable forces, and I hope she got a big payment.
The payment could have come from the winning bonuses that coach Locksley doesn’t get yet this season. A 0-6 win-loss record and no chance of playoffs must be saving the University a lot of money. Maybe the administration and the Athletics Department could save a lot more money by charging the coaches an amount similar to the win bonus when they lose.
Also, could the Daily Lobo publish the complete “University-issued statement” concerning the Lopez settlement or the Web address? I could not find it anywhere on the University’s Web site and, needless to say, nothing about it was mentioned in the never-informative “President Schmidly’s Monday-morning message” this week.
Next, let’s see what the administration says about a “settlement” in the case of Locksley’s alleged punch in the mouth to his assistant coach.
Marjorie Crow
UNM staff
Editor’s note: The complete University-issued statement can be found attached to this letter online at www.dailylobo.com.
