Pam Bordsen: Hatchell deserves better treatment

Regarding the July 21 Point of View “At UNC, unfairly targeting Hatchell”: I’ve known Sylvia Hatchell for 10 years. She is a woman of high standards and integrity, generous with her time, opening her home to others and bringing to our attention the needs of the less fortunate both locally and globally.

As a former board member of Tar Heel Team Tempo and a women’s basketball supporter, I find it disturbing that the women’s basketball program has become the scapegoat for the academic scandal that has embroiled UNC. The men’s basketball program had an employee who was aware of the paper class scheme as did the women’s program. According to what we know, neither head coach was aware of the problem initially. At some point, coach Roy Williams was tipped as to the paper classes, but Hatchell was not. She would no doubt have taken the same action as Williams had someone alerted her.

The fact that Hatchell has not been offered a contract extension as other coaches have is inexcusable. The lack of support by the administration is inexcusable and is handicapping the ability of the program to recruit, keep and teach talented athletes.

Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded programs. This situation seems clearly a violation of the spirit of Title IX. Please treat Hatchell fairly. She has earned it.

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 5:42 PM with the headline "Pam Bordsen: Hatchell deserves better treatment."