The UNCSA Abuse Lawsuit and $12.5 Million Settlement, Explained

Editor's note: This article discusses child sexual abuse. Support resources are listed at the end.

TL;DR

• In 2021, dozens of UNCSA alumni sued the school, alleging it ignored decades of sexual abuse of students (allegations spanning 1969 to 2012).
• The case grew to 65 plaintiffs and 30 named defendants. None of the allegations were tested at trial.
• In May 2024, UNCSA and the UNC System agreed to a $12.5 million settlement ($10M from the System, $2.5M from UNCSA) — with no court finding of liability.
• One person tied to the school, former faculty member Stephen Shipps, was criminally convicted — in a separate federal case — and sentenced to five years in 2022.
• The suits were possible because of NC's 2019 SAFE Child Act revival window; the state Supreme Court upheld that window in January 2025 — after UNCSA had already settled.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts has been part of Winston-Salem's identity for more than sixty years. It was the first public arts conservatory in the country, it draws students from around the world to South Main Street, and its alumni have won Oscars, Tonys, and Grammys.

It is also an institution that, in 2024, agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle claims that for decades it allowed children in its care to be sexually abused.

That's an uncomfortable pair of facts to hold at the same time. But the story has been reported in pieces over five years — a filing here, a court ruling there — and a lot of people in this city have never seen it laid out end to end. Here is what the record actually shows.

The lawsuit

On September 29, 2021, seven UNCSA alumni filed suit in Forsyth County Superior Court. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the complaint accused faculty and administrators of ignoring pervasive sexual abuse of students over a period of at least twenty years beginning in the 1970s. The Journal reported that the plaintiffs, who had attended as high school students in the 1980s, also filed individual claims with the N.C. Industrial Commission.¹

The lead attorney was Gloria Allred, the California lawyer known nationally for representing sexual assault and harassment victims, working alongside Greensboro attorney Lisa Lanier and her firm. Per the Journal's reporting, the original filing sought class-action status on the theory that there could be more than 1,000 former students affected.¹

The case grew quickly. Another 32 plaintiffs joined in November 2021, according to a timeline compiled by McClatchy news outlets.² On December 29, 2021, an amended complaint brought the total to 56 plaintiffs and named 30 defendants, the Journal reported — UNCSA itself plus former administrators and faculty members.¹ UNCSA's own public statement on that amended complaint confirms the 56-plaintiff figure and describes the allegations as ranging in time from 1969 to 2012.³

By the time the case resolved, the plaintiff count stood at 65.⁴

What the complaint alleged

The 236-page complaint — a figure confirmed by Lanier Law Group, which represented the plaintiffs — described conduct across most of the school's history.⁵

Court papers showed the residential program enrolled students as young as 12, according to reporting summarized by The Violin Channel citing the New York Times and Charlotte Observer.⁶ ABC11 reported that survivors described sexual abuse by teachers and off-campus sexual violence, and alleged administrators turned what the complaint called a willful blind eye.⁷

Campus Safety Magazine, summarizing the 2021 complaint, reported allegations that teachers invited students to their homes and served them alcohol, and that the suit described grooming of young dancers for later abuse and exploitation.⁸

The Journal reported that plaintiffs described lasting harm decades later — substance abuse, suicide attempts, and abandoned careers in performance.¹

None of these allegations were tested at trial. The case settled before a jury heard it, and the settlement did not include a court finding of liability. That distinction matters, and this article doesn't ask you to ignore it.

The one criminal case

Most of the individuals named in the civil complaint were never criminally charged in connection with it. One was convicted in a separate federal case.

Stephen Shipps, a former music faculty member at what was then the North Carolina School of the Arts, pleaded guilty in federal court to transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes. In April 2022, a federal judge sentenced him to five years in prison. Federal prosecutors said the offense occurred while Shipps was a professor at the University of Michigan and involved a 16-year-old student he took to New York in 2002.¹

The Journal reported that UNCSA officials had provided recommendations that helped Shipps obtain the Michigan position in 1989 after he was permitted to quietly resign from the Winston-Salem school.¹

The plaintiffs' attorney, Bobby Jenkins of Lanier Law Group, told ABC11 that the staff named in the lawsuit no longer work at the school or are no longer affiliated with it, and that many have died.⁷

This wasn't the first warning

The 2021 lawsuit was not the first time these concerns reached the public.

In its own October 4, 2021 letter to the campus community, UNCSA acknowledged that some of the reports in the lawsuit had surfaced in 1995. The school wrote that the UNC Board of Governors responded at the time by forming an independent commission of North Carolina citizens to review concerns about campus culture and potential abuse. That commission's report, according to UNCSA's letter, found no widespread sexual misconduct at the school, though it did lead to policy changes across the UNC System.⁹

There was also a more recent case. Per the McClatchy timeline, two 2019 graduates sued UNCSA in February 2021 — months before the larger action — alleging faculty mishandled their sexual harassment complaints against a former opera director.²

Why it took fifty years to get to court

The short answer is a state law passed in 2019.

North Carolina's SAFE Child Act, adopted unanimously by the General Assembly, extended the civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse claims and — critically — opened a two-year "revival window" running from January 2020 through December 2021, during which adults could file claims that had already expired under the old deadline. The UNCSA suits were filed inside that window.¹⁰

That window was immediately contested. Institutional defendants across the state argued the revival provision was unconstitutional, and a three-judge panel initially agreed. On January 31, 2025, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled unanimously in McKinney v. Goins that the lookback window is constitutional, according to a release from the N.C. Department of Justice.¹¹ Carolina Journal reported that the same set of rulings did reject claims in cases where courts had already issued final rulings against plaintiffs before the SAFE Child Act took effect.¹²

The Wake Forest Law Review noted that Attorney General Jeff Jackson framed the decision around the reality that processing childhood trauma can take years.¹⁰

Notably, UNCSA settled before that ruling came down — while the law's survival was still genuinely uncertain.

The settlement

On May 17, 2024, the UNC System, UNCSA, and plaintiffs' attorneys announced a $12.5 million settlement resolving all 65 claims. Under the terms, as stated on UNCSA's own website, the UNC System pays $10 million and UNCSA pays $2.5 million, spread over four years.^{4 13}

An outside professional allocator was appointed to divide the funds among survivors based on factors including the nature and duration of the abuse. ABC11 reported the first payments went out in early September 2024.⁷

Chancellor Brian Cole said in a public statement that the resolution cannot heal the wounds of the past, and called the period a dark time for UNCSA as the school came to terms with accounts of abuse.⁴

UNC System President Peter Hans said in a statement posted by UNCSA that protecting students is the university's first responsibility, that any violation of that trust is painful, and more so when victims wait decades for recognition.⁴

Attorney Lisa Lanier told the Winston-Salem Journal that the resolution marked the end of a decades-long journey for the former students, and that pursuing claims rooted in past trauma takes tremendous courage.¹

What changed on campus

UNCSA has published a list of measures it says were implemented or strengthened since 2021. Per the school's own lawsuit-response page, these include: a Division of Institutional Integrity consolidating compliance functions including Title IX; a full-time Title IX coordinator; increased investigative capacity in that office; enhanced mandatory annual harassment-prevention training; expanded counseling through a free teletherapy platform; and what the school describes as the most restrictive improper-relations regulation in the UNC System — under which a student can never consent to a sexual relationship with a faculty member, employee, or contractor.¹⁴

The school also commissioned an outside review by Harassment Free NC and posted a summary of it publicly.¹⁴

The same page notes UNCSA was working to identify funding for its share of the settlement in a way that least affects operations, and states a commitment to protecting scholarships and student aid.¹⁴

Whether those changes are sufficient is a fair question for the community to keep asking. Institutions tend to publish their reforms; the harder work is whether the culture behind them actually shifted.

Holding both things

There are roughly a thousand students on that campus right now who had nothing to do with any of this. Their teachers, for the most part, weren't there in 1985. The school is not the same institution, and treating current students as though they carry that history would be its own kind of unfairness.

But the alumni who filed those claims were teenagers in Winston-Salem, boarded here, sent here by parents who believed this city was a safe place to grow a child's talent. What they say happened to them happened inside our city limits, at a public institution funded by this state.

Both of those things are true. The record above is offered so readers can weigh it themselves.

If you need support

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse or assault:

• Sexual Assault Response Program (Family Services, Forsyth County) — 24-hour crisis line: 336-722-4457
• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline — 800-656-4673, or online chat at rainn.org
• UNCSA Title IX Office — 336-932-3917

North Carolina's civil revival window has closed, but survivors with questions about their legal options can consult an attorney; the SAFE Child Act still extends the standard civil statute of limitations for childhood abuse claims.

FAQ

What was the UNCSA lawsuit about?

In September 2021, seven UNCSA alumni sued the school, alleging faculty and administrators ignored pervasive sexual abuse of students over decades. The case grew to 65 plaintiffs and 30 named defendants, with allegations spanning 1969 to 2012. None of the allegations were tested at trial.

How much was the UNCSA settlement?

$12.5 million, announced May 17, 2024. The UNC System pays $10 million and UNCSA pays $2.5 million, spread over four years, resolving all 65 claims. The settlement did not include a court finding of liability.

Was anyone criminally charged in the UNCSA abuse case?

Most individuals named in the civil complaint were never criminally charged in connection with it. One, former music faculty member Stephen Shipps, was convicted in a separate federal case and sentenced to five years in prison in April 2022.

Why could decades-old abuse claims be filed in 2021?

North Carolina's 2019 SAFE Child Act opened a two-year "revival window" (January 2020 through December 2021) that let adults file childhood sexual abuse claims that had already expired under the old deadline. The N.C. Supreme Court upheld the window as constitutional in January 2025 — after UNCSA had already settled.

What has UNCSA changed since the lawsuit?

Per the school, changes include a consolidated Division of Institutional Integrity, a full-time Title IX coordinator, expanded harassment-prevention training and free teletherapy counseling, an outside review by Harassment Free NC, and what UNCSA describes as the UNC System's most restrictive rule barring sexual relationships between students and faculty, employees, or contractors.

Where can survivors of sexual abuse get help in Winston-Salem?

Local: Family Services' Sexual Assault Response Program 24-hour crisis line, 336-722-4457. National: RAINN, 800-656-4673 or rainn.org. UNCSA Title IX Office: 336-932-3917.

Footnotes

1. Winston-Salem Journal (journalnow.com) — coverage of the original September 2021 filing, the November and December 2021 amended complaints, the Stephen Shipps case and his quiet resignation, plaintiffs' descriptions of lasting harm, and the 2024 settlement including attorney Lisa Lanier's comments. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. McClatchy news outlets — compiled timeline of the litigation, including the 32 plaintiffs added in November 2021 and the February 2021 suit by two 2019 graduates over a former opera director. ↩ ↩²

3. UNCSA — chancellor's statement on the December 29, 2021 amended complaint (uncsa.edu), confirming the 56-plaintiff figure and the 1969–2012 span of the allegations. ↩

4. UNCSA — settlement announcement and statements (uncsa.edu), including the $12.5 million terms ($10M UNC System / $2.5M UNCSA over four years), the 65 resolved claims, and statements from Chancellor Brian Cole and UNC System President Peter Hans. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Lanier Law Group — statements from plaintiffs' counsel, including confirmation of the 236-page complaint. ↩

6. The Violin Channel — summary of the complaint (citing the New York Times and Charlotte Observer), including that the residential program enrolled students as young as 12. ↩

7. ABC11 / WTVD — coverage of survivors' allegations, attorney Bobby Jenkins's comments, and the settlement, including that first payments went out in early September 2024. ↩ ↩² ↩³

8. Campus Safety Magazine — summary of the 2021 complaint, including allegations about teachers hosting students and serving alcohol and the grooming of young dancers. ↩

9. UNCSA — chancellor's letter to the campus community, October 4, 2021 (uncsa.edu), acknowledging reports that surfaced in 1995 and the UNC Board of Governors' independent commission and its findings. ↩

10. Wake Forest Law Review — analysis of the SAFE Child Act's revival provision, including Attorney General Jeff Jackson's framing of the decision. ↩ ↩²

11. North Carolina Department of Justice — release on the January 31, 2025 McKinney v. Goins ruling upholding the SAFE Child Act's revival window. ↩

12. Carolina Journal — coverage of the SAFE Child Act rulings, including the rejection of claims where courts had issued final rulings before the Act took effect. ↩

13. N.C. Lawyers Weekly — settlement and complaint summaries. ↩

14. UNCSA — lawsuit-response page (uncsa.edu) detailing post-2021 reforms (Division of Institutional Integrity, Title IX coordinator, training, teletherapy, improper-relations regulation), the Harassment Free NC review, and settlement-funding commitments. ↩ ↩² ↩³