RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — University of North Carolina officials appear to have violated state law when they criticized a reading specialist who concluded that some basketball and football players couldn’t read at a third-grade level, the head of a government accountability advocacy group says.

School officials’ actions make UNC-Chapel Hill look like a bully, and they will make others hesitant to come forward, the president of the Government Accountability Project wrote in his letter to Chancellor Carol Folt. GAP President Louis Clark urged UNC-CH to investigate whether school officials have harassed or intimidated Mary Willingham, who worked with athletes and researched their reading skills.

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