t against Belmont, it was
nearly impossible.

Nearly, that is, because her students never wavered in their efforts to
encourage and help her. It was during this wait that factual
information was obtained concerning a dean at Belmont who had falsified
a faculty promotion sheet. The occurrence had been rumored, but now
the players were known. Al Garret had talked to the principals of the
event and obtained two affidavits attesting to the misconduct and
subsequent lack of punishment awarded the dean who was still employed
at the university. The man had suffered no loss of rank or pay for his
transgression. These affidavits were added to the pile of papers
already on file with the judge.

Early in June, the Opinion and Order of the judge arrived. Al Garret's
third charge had been thrown out by the judge who wrote that the law
cited did not apply to Belmont University. The other three charges
were sustained.

On charge number four, relating to the open meeting law, the judge
wrote in part: "To permit this hearing panel to operate outside the
Open Meeting Law would be to enable the university to take round-about
steps to avoid its public duty."

He continued by describing the hearing panel as resembling, "....the
type of secret activities the Open Meeting Law seeks to prevent...."
and suggested that if the panel had considered any area to be extremely
sensitive, it could have gone into executive session. Even this he
qualified--asserting that it was subject to the plaintiff's right to a
public hearing.

As to the public record law, charge number five, he ruled that the
plaintiff should have access to the evaluations requested. "The Court
finds," he wrote, "that Belmont must comply with the Public Records
Law."

Finally, on charge number six, relating to the fair employment law, the
judge found the evidence submitted to be sufficient to indicate
retaliatory, sexual discrimination.

A few days later, with this Opinion and Order from the court in hand,
John T. Pope, president of Belmont University, terminated the
plaintiff, effective immediately.

The Pope's action was expected by everyone except Al Garret, Diana's
attorney--he still thought he'd won the case. Belmont had been
thumbing its nose at the judicial system as long as anyone could
remember.

Diana Trenchant packed up the teaching and research accumulations of
nearly twenty-five years and left for home.

Neither the president nor any of the Ve