By David Jones
NEWARK, N.J., May 15 (Reuters) – Rutgers University picked
a woman to head its athletic programs on Wednesday, as New
Jersey’s largest public college looks to move on from a scandal
that saw several top sports officials resign.
Julie Hermann, 49, who was a senior executive atheletic
director at the University of Louisville, will be the first
woman to hold the post of athletic director at Rutgers.
Her predecessor, Tim Pernetti, resigned in early April after
ESPN aired video showing the school’s then-head men’s basketball
coach abusing players and berating them with homophobic slurs.
The coach, Mike Rice, was fired.
Rutgers President Robert Barchi, who had faced down calls
for his own resignation during the uproar after the videos were
aired, called Hermann “simply a remarkable leader.”
Hermann, who starts a five-year contract on June 17,
acknowledged the school’s sports programs will have a way to go
to regain the trust of fans, alumni and students.
“I’m well aware that many people that support this
institution were deeply hurt by what took place,” she said.
The scandal put a spotlight on the high-pressure world of
college sports, where millions of dollars of television revenue
are at stake, coaches can command six-figure salaries but
players are unpaid.
Rutgers will pay Hermann a $450,000 annual base salary, with
a $50,000 bonus target.
At Louisville, Hermann oversaw a nationally ranked athletic
program that won the NCAA men’s basketball championship earlier
this year.
(Editing by Scott Malone and Leslie Gevirtz)
