A Guest Blog on Kenneth Kitts

Kenneth Kitts: Idiot or Egomaniac?

I’m new to the Shoals area and I normally don’t write to blogs. However, the issue with the University of North Alabama's president has left me scratching my head. This “brilliant” college administrator has redefined making a mountain out of a mole hill and has placed the institution and the state in financial jeopardy.

It seems that last year a female student, “Jane Doe,” filed a lawsuit against the university because she believed that she was assaulted by a visiting professor and, according to her Title IX complaint, the institution did not handle things correctly.

These types of suits happen all the time and, based on what even U-North has said, her claims against the professor seem to be reliable. Now, normally, these types of lawsuits tend to fly under the radar of the media and are quickly adjudicated by the affected parties. Simply, either the institution did or did not handle the incident correctly. Either a trial will decide, or the matter will be settled out of court and the institution will learn from its mistakes, if any mistakes were made.

Nevertheless, if an institution is involved in this type of lawsuit, the only words that should come out of the CEO’s mouth is something like “the matter is under litigation, therefore, the institution has no comment.” That’s it, plain and simple. If Kitts had only said what hundreds of other presidents before him have said when asked about a lawsuit, the matter would have gone away in the public eye.

What Kitts actually did either borders on idiocy or egotism. He writes a letter condemning “Jane Doe” as essentially a liar and a money-hungry zealot. What was he thinking? Does UNA not have the availability of professional legal advice before a letter like this was made public? If UNA believes “Jane Doe” was truly forced into some type of inappropriate situation with one of their professors (which they later acknowledged), why belittle and ridicule her?

Well, because of Kitts’ stupid move, what would have been a brief buzz in the local media, now made the websites of major news outlets across the nation including the New York Times and the Washington Post. A few days after the first letter, the institution released a second in which they acknowledge that the professor probably did something inappropriate, so they took care of the matter by removing him.

This second letter caused even more problems for UNA. The media later found out that, while the institution did dismiss him in November, they paid his salary through April. Why? According to Kitts, it was to avoid a lawsuit and embarrassment to the student. However, Isn’t Alabama an “at will” state? This guy they dismissed was a temporary professor. He was not tenured. Therefore, the university could have just sent him on his way. They didn’t, and it smells like UNA is trying to cover up something.

Actually, the university dismissed the professor “without cause” which is something you do when you want to get rid of someone in an “at will” state. By not stating a cause, the institution is less likely to be liable for any clam the dismissed person might have against the institution. However, in the second letter, Kitts said that it was clear the professor acted inappropriately, and he was dismissed because of that action. In other words, the institution just gave a reason through an open letter to the public as to why the professor was dismissed even though the professor was officially dismissed “without cause.” Which reason is the truth?

I think it is clear that the professor must have done something inappropriate to “Jane Doe,” and the university was right in dismissing him. It could also be true that the university did handle the matter correctly regarding "Jane Doe" and may be exonerated. However, now that Kitts decided to open his mouth again, the professor was able to find a crafty attorney to file a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit against the state because UNA told the media a technical falsehood about him. Again, officially, UNA dismissed him “without cause,” but told the media that he was dismissed because of acting inappropriately.

So, here you have a professor that probably did something wrong to a student, but now, through Kitts' comments, has a huge lawsuit against the institution that he may actually win.

All of this could have been avoided if Kitts had just responded to the media with “the matter is currently under litigation, therefore, the institution has no comment.”

Kitts’ actions clearly show that he is either an idiot who had no idea of what he was doing, or an egomaniac who believes he is the all-knowing and all-powerful puppet master. Either way, his unbridled voice means that the state and the university could lose millions of dollars. I’m left scratching my head wondering why he is still employed.

Clarence Darrow

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Read About Lawsuit Here: The UNA Rapist?