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News Nuggets, 07.26.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Boyce to ride herd on Pirates' classroom pursuits

East Carolina has appointed Nita Boyce to a position in which success can be measured in large part by victories that take place off the field.

The school last week named Boyce Assistant Athletics Director for Student Development, an administrative position dealing with the oversight of athletes' academic pursuits.

Boyce had been serving in the position on an interim basis since March. She succeeds Darrell Bryant, who retired this past spring.

Prior to being promoted, Boyce served as the Academic and Speaker's Bureau Coordinator. She was responsible for planning and implementing then annual "PCS Phosphate Breakfast of Champions" awards banquet and coordinating the nationally recognized speaker's bureau program for ECU student-athletes.

Boyce, who is entering her 13th year as a member of the ECU athletic department, will oversee the academic progress of all ECU student-athletes and will be involved with their personal, social and career development.

She will continue to oversee the study centers and tutorial program, and serve as the academic coordinator for five intercollegiate teams, including the football team.

A native of Tyner, NC, Boyce is a 1986 graduate of ECU. She earned her master's in adult education from her alma mater in 2001.

IU fans' suit over Knight firing gets new life

BLOOMINGTON — Attorneys who filed a lawsuit claiming Indiana University trustees broke state law in firing basketball coach Bob Knight have asked for a trial date to be set after a judge pushed for action in the long-stalled case.

Special Judge Cecile Blau of Clark County, who is handling the suit filed by 47 basketball fans after Knight's 2000 firing, said she was considering dismissing the matter since the fans' attorneys had never responded to a September 2002 filing by university lawyers.

The fans' attorneys, in a court document filed Wednesday, said they were trying to reschedule depositions with some IU officials that had been canceled because of schedule conflicts or illness.

"We just have a little bit to tie up, a couple more depositions," said Roy Graham, an attorney representing the fans. "We should be able to go to trial or move for summary judgment. We're pretty confident we'll have all the evidence we'll need to go to trial."

The court filing said the plaintiffs met in early 2003 with Gerald Bepko, who was then IU's interim president, and offered to settle the lawsuit, but their offer was rejected several months later.

The lawsuit accuses the university trustees of violating the state's public-access law by having closed-door meetings with then-president Myles Brand to discuss Knight's status.

University officials said no more than four of the nine trustees were present at the meetings. State law defines a meeting as a gathering of a majority of a government board.

The fans' lawsuit is one of three IU still faces regarding Knight, who won three NCAA championships during his 29 years at IU and is now the coach at Texas Tech.

A suit by The Indianapolis Star, seeking documents related to the firing, is set for trial Sept. 8 in Monroe Circuit Court. A complaint by former assistant coach Ron Felling over alleged mistreatment by Knight also is pending.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007