By Omar Talpur
The academic advisor who was fired from the University of South Florida’s Athletic Department at the end of July has been rehired to a different position at USF and has dropped her racial discrimination lawsuit.
Myrtice Landers, 52, was fired for providing $326 worth of textbooks to a female basketball player who she thought was on a scholarship. She never denied the claim. However, she claimed that other university employees were treated differently and claimed racial discrimination through the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Landers had worked at USF for ten months short of the 30 years necessary to be fully vested in the university’s pension program and have been employed in the athletic department since 2004.
Landers said that she had “knowledge of numerous NCAA violations committed by white employees, including my superiors and employees of the compliance division of the athletic department that were unreported, and in some instances, actually covered up by the department.”
Furthermore, Landers had claimed that she was a “scapegoat” for others at USF, who had committed violations at USF.
“I feel as though I have been singled out as the only non-student African-American athletic department employee and made a scapegoat for ongoing NCAA violations that have been investigated by the NCAA for approximately the past eight months.”
Landers was referring to reports in November when various media outlets reported several alleged violations associated with USF’s basketball team. USF conducted an internal investigation, which found 13 minor violations in the athletic department for the 09-10 seasons.
The only person to lose his job during USF’s investigation was video and conditioning assistant Terrelle Woody, who resigned shortly before the violations were announced. It was alleged that he had participated in several of the violations.
In the mediation process, Landers’ attorney, Wil Florin of Florin Roebig, provided a nine-page document, which was said to have included names and dates of other violations.
USF spokesman Michael Hoad admitted as much, noting that “they did submit a list of potential NCAA violations and USF will review it.”
Hoad continued, “They withdrew the allegations of racial discrimination. We agreed that to be fair, we’d continue her employment so that she can get the 30 years for retirement.”
Landers’ will now be working in a different capacity under USF’s Dean of Undergraduate Studies W. Robert Sullins, where she will be developing manuals for other academic advisers. She will receive the same salary and benefits as her old position as an academic adviser in the Academic Enrichment Center in USF’s athletic department.
Talpur is a senior journalism major at the University of Texas.
