U.S.

New Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann starts job

June 17, 2013 / 12:06 PM EDT / CBS/AP

After weeks of criticism regarding the school's decision to hire her, new Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann began her first day on the job Monday.

A university spokesman tweeted late Monday morning that Hermann was on campus.

The spokesman did not say what time Hermann showed up for work, but a car was parked in the athletic director's spot at 7:15 a.m. when an Associated Press reporter arrived at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

Controversy surrounding Hermann's hire started last month when it came to light that players from the 1996 Tennessee Vols women's volleyball team said they complained Hermann was verbally and emotionally abusive to them. They said in a letter at the time that she called them "whores, alcoholics and learning disabled."

Later, it also came to light that Hermann was involved in a discrimination lawsuit while an administrator at Louisville, where an assistant track coach said she was fired for complaining about discriminatory treatment.

Those allegations followed the uproar in which her predecessor, former Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti, was forced to resign days after men's basketball coach Mike Rice was fired for physically and verbally abusing his players during his three-year tenure.

Before her first day on the job, Hermann already started doing damage control in a campus visit earlier this month, saying the problems she encountered at Tennessee are part of the reason she's a good fit as a sports administrator.

"That lesson of 17 years ago was honestly why I felt I was uniquely qualified, not only very qualified but uniquely qualified because I have been a student-athlete, been an assistant coach, been a head coach and now an administrator," she said at the time. "I have been in every spot that exists in an athletic department, and I understand the challenges.

"I have been successful with them and I had a failure with them."

Rutgers president Robert Barchi did not back down from Hermann's appointment despite calls from state politicians, who are upset that she was not vetted properly.

"Julie and I had a great discussion ... 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," Barchi said in a June 5 statement. "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."

Rutgers is joining the Big Ten in 2014.

The university's board of governors has the right to replace Hermann, but the school would probably owe her $2.25 million based on her five-year, $450,000 contract.

Members of the selection committee that chose Hermann also were upset that they had little say in the process until informed of the final two choices, Hermann and Sean Frazier, the deputy athletic director at Wisconsin.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said last month that he won't micromanage Rutgers, and Barchi added that he stands behind Hermann, who for the past 16 years had been the No. 2 sports administrator at Louisville.

Hermann was selected as Rutgers' first female athletic director on May 15.

Rutgers' problems started in December when Rice was suspended three games and fined $75,000 by the school after a video of his conduct at practices was given to Pernetti by Eric Murdock, a former assistant coach.

The video showed numerous clips of Rice firing basketballs at players, hitting them in the back, legs, feet and shoulders. It also showed him grabbing players by their jerseys and yanking them around the court. Rice can be heard yelling obscenities and using anti-gay slurs.

The controversy went public in April when ESPN aired the videos and Barchi admitted he didn't view them in the fall. Rice was fired and Pernetti, assistant coach Jimmy Martelli and interim senior vice president and university counsel John Wolf resigned.

Former Rutgers guard Eddie Jordan was hired to replace Rice in April but even that did not go as planned when Rutgers said he had his degree from the New Jersey school when he didn't.

Last month, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney said the recent string of problems at Rutgers would not prevent the university from joining the Big Ten in 2014.