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#### Rutgers AD Julie Hermann ready to deal with 'national embarrassment'

#### Julie Hermann spoke with the media on Wednesday in Piscataway for only the second time since the controversy erupted surrounding her hire as new athletics director at Rutgers. Hermann said she met with Big Ten

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# Rutgers AD Julie Hermann ready to deal with 'national embarrassment'

Ryan Dunleavy, USA TODAY Sports 9:06 p.m. EDT June 5, 2013

Julie Hermann talks to the media after being introduced as Rutgers University athletic director on May 15.(Photo: Rich Schultz, Getty Images)

### Story Highlights

- Julie Hermann spoke with the media on Wednesday in Piscataway
- It was only the second time she spoke since the controversy erupted surrounding her hire as Rutgers' AD
- She said it was 'heartbreaking' to hear the voices of her former players that criticized her as a coach

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- In the face of a bombardment of questions Wednesday about the controversies that have swirled around her since her appointment last month, Rutgers incoming athletics director Julie Hermann acknowledged the challenges she will face when she takes office June 17.

"When I was awarded the job I was told that it was going to be a tough challenge and I believe it's going to be a tough challenge," Hermann said. "Has it been made harder? No doubt. Am I going to have to work double time to connect with the people who are passionate about Rutgers? I am.

"I think one-on-one meetings are going to be critically important for us so that people can meet me, know what I stand for, understand my experiences — to the extent that they know who I am and what I stand for and what my 25 years of college athletics have been about — and (I can) communicate to them my values."

RELATED: Rutgers email outlines Hermann hiring details

Hermann has been under fire in the two weeks since a video surfaced that is tied to a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed against her when she was a volleyball coach at the University of Tennessee in the mid-1990s and then several players from that program came forward with accusations of verbal abuse.

The former second in command of Louisville's athletic department visited Rutgers to meet with coaches and fellow administrators after spending the morning in New York with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany. Hermann admitted the scandal was a topic of conversation with the head of Rutgers' future conference, but said she is "passionate about moving forward" during a 14-minute news conference held in front of about 50 media members outside of the Hale Center.

"The single reason I got into athletics is that I had a great experience being a volleyball player at Nebraska," she said. "It was game-changing for me. If we can provide 500 or so opportunities for kids to do that, I'll go to the mat. I'll deal with it. I'll put up with it. I'll deal with a national embarrassment."

Others around the state appear less willing to deal with the fallout and are having a difficult time reconciling Hermann's memory lapses. They include failure to recollect being a bridesmaid in the wedding of Ginger Hineline, the former assistant coach who successfully sued for $150,000, and details of a meeting in which members of her 1996 team presented a signed letter asking for her removal.

Richard Edwards, co-chair of Rutgers' search committee, acknowledged in an email to the 28-person group obtained Wednesday by USA TODAY Sports that school officials were aware of Hermann's involvement in past lawsuits prior to hiring her. Parker Executive Search, which was contracted for $70,000 to perform a background check, found the 1996 lawsuit as well as a 2008 sex discrimination lawsuit naming Hermann filed by an assistant track and field coach at Louisville based on behaviors by the head coach.

"Ms. Hineline was not questioned by Parker Executive Search because they concluded that the situation had been resolved in a court of law, there was no record, Julie herself was not a named defendant, and there seemed to be no reason to interview the plaintiff in this suit from more than fifteen (sic) years ago," Edwards wrote in the email.

Edwards said the search committee was not aware of name-calling allegations because they never surfaced when Parker Executive Search contacted former Tennessee women's athletics director Joan Cronan.

Hermann called it "heartbreaking" to hear the abrasive words some former players claim she used toward them. She described the past two weeks as "very difficult," but reiterated her previous stance that she is not a "name-caller."

"That lesson of 17 years ago was honestly part of why I felt I was not only very qualified, but arguably uniquely qualified," Hermann said. "I've been in every spot that exists in an athletic department and I understand the challenges. I've been successful with them and I've had failure with them and that failure was really important to me."

Among the outraged, former Gov. Richard Codey recently called Hermann a "liar" and suggested she step down immediately. Rutgers potentially would be on the hook for the entirety of a five-year, $2.25 million contract if it fired Hermann, though President Robert L. Barchi continues to express support for Tim Pernetti's successor.

"I look forward to Julie joining the Rutgers team later this month," Barchi said in a statement. "Julie and I had a great discussion today about her priorities and plans to strengthen the student-athlete experience and support the excellent coaches and staff at Rutgers by making sure they have the resources to succeed. Our smooth integration into the Big Ten is a top priority for the university. I am confident that Julie and her team will set the stage for a great transition."

Pernetti and former men's basketball coach Mike Rice were ousted in April after Rice was revealed to be verbally and physically abusing players. The incident put a microscope on Hermann's alleged behavior.

"There wasn't one person who didn't say, 'Are you ready to deal with the New Jersey media?'" Hermann said in recalling her multi-day interview. "And I naively said, 'Yes,' because I feel that I'm completely an open book about all my past experiences. And so I honestly didn't even think twice about it."

Most of Hermann's thoughts now revolve around putting her ideas for Rutgers into action.

"It's been tough for everybody on campus," she said. "It's been a bout of turmoil, but all of our dialogue is about moving through that and getting back to students and ensuring as fast as we can that every student-athlete that comes on our campus really has a best in class experience."

Dunleavy also writes for MyCentralJersey.com, a Gannett property.

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