Racism Suit

A member of the office of Public Safety at the University of Pennsylvania has filed a suit against the university claiming that sex and race discrimination prevented her from being named Public Safety director last spring.

Crime Prevention Specialist Ruth Wells is charging that racism and sexism were involved in the last March's appointment of former University Police Capt. John Logan as director of Public Safety. She has also alleged that top administrators and Public Safety officials have harassed and threatened her since she filed a complaint with the EEOC.

"The problems here at the office have intensified," Wells said yesterday. "The harassment increases daily and I'm ready."

"I just feel that I have no other option, and I really regret that the university has left us in that situation," she added.

President Sheldon Hackney and other university officials have repeatedly denied all of Wells's accusations.

The charges arose last semester after Wells was rejected for the position by a university-wide search committee. Members of that committee said that the panel's chairman, Vice President for Operational Services Arthur Hirsch, biased the search in favor of Logan--who eventually was named as director.