UNC settles open-meetings complaint tied to trustee discussions of athletics finances

By The Associated Press

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill must pay $25,000 and its trustees must affirm a commitment to follow the state’s open-meeting laws. That’s part of a settlement that dismissed a lawsuit over the board’s handling of athletics discussions. David McKenzie, a lawyer in Wake County, had filed a complaint in May accusing trustees of violating open-meetings laws in previous private-session discussions tied to athletics budgets. Those discussions highlighted growing national tensions with schools jumping from league to league in search of more money tied to TV deals in a football-driven market.