The University of Tennessee-Knoxville has reached a settlement in a lawsuit about sexual assaults involving student-athletes, ending a dispute that pitted eight young women against the $126 million football program.
UT will pay the plaintiffs $2.48 million, a sum that also includes fees for their attorneys.
School officials also agreed to the appointment of a special independent commission to review the response to sexual assaults at all universities within the UT system. Under the terms of the settlement, the university did not admit to "guilt, negligence or unlawful acts."
The plaintiffs, in turn, agreed to withdraw two complaints over the university's handling of sexual assaults filed with the U.