Fort Valley State settles lawsuit with former newspaper adviser

FORT VALLEY - The former adviser of Fort Valley State University&#39;s student newspaper has settled a federal lawsuit for $192,000 after claiming he lost his job because the paper published articles critical of the university. <br> <br> John Schmitt, a former associate professor at Fort Valley and now an assistant professor at Southwest Texas State University, said the school violated his rights in 1998 when it declined to renew his contract. <br> <br> Schmitt advised the staff at The Peachite student newspaper from August 1997 to June 1998. <br> <br> During that time, the newspaper published articles that accused former school President Oscar Prater of being inaccessible to students and others that claimed a top school administrator mismanaged funds at a previous job. <br> <br> Schmitt also contended he was discriminated against because he was a white employee at a mostly black institution, and that a black administrator accused him of being a part of a ``white, Jewish, male conspiracy.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Fort Valley State, school administrators, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the state were named as defendants in the lawsuit. <br> <br> The settlement, which was reached last month, includes no admission of wrongdoing by the defendants and precludes Schmitt from seeking employment at any other Georgia public institution. <br> <br> Arlethia Perry-Johnson, a spokeswoman for the university system, said Fort Valley must contribute $75,000 to the settlement, while $117,000 will come from the Georgia Department of Administrative Services. <br> <br> Schmitt said he will receive $75,000, and the rest will go to attorney&#39;s fees.