NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The woman hired to clean up Rutgers’ scandal-scarred athletic program quit as Tennessee’s women’s volleyball coach 16 years ago after her players submitted a letter complaining she ruled through humiliation, fear and emotional abuse, The Star-Ledger reported Saturday night on its website.
In the letter about Julie Hermann, hired May 15 as Rutgers’ athletic director after serving as the No. 2 athletic administrator at Louisville, the players wrote: “The mental cruelty that we as a team have suffered is unbearable.” They say Hermann called them “whores, alcoholics and learning disabled.”
The 49-year-old Hermann told The Star-Ledger she didn’t remember the letter.
Hermann, the first woman to head Rutgers’ athletic program, has promised a restart for the program following the ouster of its men’s basketball coach and the resignation of other officials.
