Montgomery, AL – The latest round in the fight over the name of Alabama State University's Acadome has begun.
University officials attended a preliminary hearing Thursday for a lawsuit that claims the ASU board of trustees violated the Alabama Open Meetings Act when members voted to remove Joe Reed's name from the Acadome.
Former ASU trustee Frankie Underwood brought the lawsuit and contends that business was discussed and a quorum was present outside of the board meeting in violation of the open meetings law.
The lawsuit also claims stripping Reed's name was illegal because the resolution wasn't on the board's agenda.
School officials said they followed the law and sought to dismiss any insinuations that there was a conspiracy involving powerful state lawmaker and ASU Executive Vice President John Knight to remove Reed's name.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)