Rutgers President Responds to Report of Athletics Review Committee

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – A distinguished committee of New Jersey leaders – formed by Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick last summer to look into questions raised about the university’s Division of Intercollegiate Athletics – has delivered its 35-page report [PDF] to the president. The report, which President McCormick released today, recommends greater oversight of athletics by the president and the Rutgers Board of Governors.

In a written statement, the president pledged to improve “the way we do business at the university” and to take “additional steps to manage effectively an increasingly successful and fiscally complex athletics program.”

President McCormick appointed the committee of prominent leaders from Rutgers and around the state on July 29, 2008. The Athletics Review Committee (ARC) was asked to conduct a “complete and candid” review of the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics’ policies and practices, including but not limited to:

• the transparency of transactions and information
• contracts and relationships with sports marketing firms
• the internal control environment within the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.
  
  

In his written charge to the committee, the president committed the full cooperation of “the administration of the university, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, and all other offices and units at Rutgers” with the review. The nine-member committee was co-chaired by Al Koeppe, CEO of the Newark Alliance and the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), and Albert R. Gamper Jr., former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the CIT Group Inc. and a past chair and current member of the Rutgers Board of Governors.

The committee’s report begins with an overview of the methodology that members followed to conduct the nearly four-month review. The document includes a detailed and chronological analysis of: the Nelligan Sports Marketing contract and its extensions; the hiring of Coach Greg Schiano and his employment agreements and extensions; and the previous employment of Athletics Director Robert E. Mulcahy III’s son by Nelligan.

The committee’s conclusions and recommendations cover the activities of the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, the university’s internal controls, interdepartmental and hierarchical communication within Rutgers, presidential oversight of athletics, and the role of the Board of Governors.

In a detailed written statement, President McCormick pledged to address carefully all of the report’s recommendations. He outlined a series of immediate actions, including:

• additional administrative oversight over the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics

• expanding the size and responsibilities of the university’s Internal Audit Department
• requiring for all coaches written employment contracts that include all elements of compensation
• requiring presidential approval of the compensation for all head coaches.
  
  

The president will take forward to the Board of Governors the committee recommendations that require Board approval.

The committee’s report acknowledges that the changing culture of a rapidly developing NCAA Division I athletics program has placed additional stress on the system at Rutgers. The committee identifies no illegal or unethical activities at Rutgers and does not raise concerns about the outcomes of decisions that were made by the university. The report, however, does challenge the university to improve substantially the way decisions regarding intercollegiate athletics are made in the future.

“Any institution that aspires to achieve even greater accomplishments and to realize the highest ideals should periodically take stock of what it has done and ask how it can do better,” McCormick said. “The thorough analyses, candid reporting and thoughtful recommendations generated by the members of the Athletics Review Committee in their nearly four months of work will lead to constructive change at Rutgers. The university is more committed than ever to the values of accountability, transparency, and rigorous adherence to established procedures for decision-making. Our students, faculty, staff, alumni, supporters and the citizens of New Jersey expect and deserve no less.”

McCormick praised and thanked the committee for the quality and scope of its work. “The Athletics Review Committee has prepared a penetrating and compelling report on recent important issues that have arisen in the Rutgers Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and, just as essential, on the university’s governing practices,” he said. “Their report is consistent with what I had hoped for when I appointed the committee last summer. I asked the members of the committee to ‘probe deeply’ all relevant issues and to bring forward constructive recommendations for improvements. Under the very capable leadership of co-chairs Al Koeppe and Albert R. Gamper Jr., that is just what the committee members have done. I applaud their work and welcome their recommendations.”

The Rev. M. William Howard Jr., chair of the Rutgers Board of Governors, praised President McCormick’s leadership and courage in calling for a candid and independent review of the issues surrounding intercollegiate athletics at Rutgers. “I have had an opportunity to review the report and to discuss with the president his approach for responding to the recommendations,” Howard said. “The president has taken immediate and decisive actions in response to the report. The Board looks forward to working with the president to address these important matters.”

Athletics Director Mulcahy said: “I am appreciative of all the work the committee did and its sensitivity in its review. I will continue to work closely with President McCormick and the Board to implement the recommendations.”

The following individuals served on the Rutgers Athletics Review Committee:

Alfred C. Koeppe (co-chair) – Koeppe is currently the CEO of the Newark Alliance. He has served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) and Chief Executive Officer of Bell Atlantic-New Jersey. Koeppe was a member of the State's Domestic Security Taskforce, served as Chairman of Chief Justice Wilentz’s Supreme Court Commission to reform the New Jersey Court System and has also chaired the following institutions: the New Jersey Higher Education Commission, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. As part of his reform efforts, in 2005, Acting Governor Richard Codey requested Koeppe to assume the Chairmanship of the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation with a mandate to restore its financial integrity. He holds memberships in the New Jersey and American Bar Associations. Koeppe is a graduate of Rutgers-Newark and a member of the Rutgers University Hall of Distinguished Alumni.

Albert R. Gamper Jr. (co-chair) – Gamper is the former chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the CIT Group Inc., from which he retired in 2004. He is chairman of the board of Saint Barnabas Health Care System, a trustee of Fidelity Investments and a director of the Public Service Enterprise Group. A Rutgers-Newark graduate, Gamper is a past chair of the Rutgers Board of Governors and continues to serve on the board. He is a former member of the Board of Overseers of the Rutgers University Foundation and a current member of the Rutgers Board of Trustees.

Dennis Bone – Bone is president of Verizon New Jersey Inc., responsible for all of Verizon’s corporate interests in New Jersey. Prior to the Bell Atlantic/GTE merger, Bone was president and chief executive officer of Bell Atlantic-West Virginia. Before that, he was vice president-external affairs for Bell Atlantic-New Jersey Inc. Bone serves on the board of directors of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the New Jersey Utilities Association. He is on the board of trustees of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Newark Alliance, the Liberty Science Center, Centenary College and the New Jersey Network Foundation. A graduate of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology, Bone has an MBA in finance and economics from Rutgers and a Master of Science from The Johns Hopkins University.

Hon. James Coleman – A New Jersey Supreme Court justice from 1994 to 2003, Coleman is currently Of Counsel to Porzio, Bromberg & Newman P.C. Coleman focuses his practice on advising attorneys and clients on appellate strategy and on acting as a mediator or arbiter of complex, private and public disputes. Prior to serving on the Supreme Court, Coleman held numerous positions in the state judiciary, including as a judge in New Jersey’s Workers’ Compensation Court, Union County Court, New Jersey Superior Court’s Law and Appellate divisions (and also as presiding judge in the latter) and as justice pro tempore in the New Jersey Supreme Court. Coleman, a graduate of Virginia State University and the Howard University School of Law, is chair of the board of trustees of Legal Services of New Jersey.

Gabriella Morris – Morris is president of The Prudential Foundation and corporate vice president of the community resources unit of Prudential Insurance Company of America. In these positions, she oversees foundation grant making. Morris serves on the board of trustees of the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of Newark Inc., Women’s Board of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation, among others. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law.

Hon. Frederick Lacey – Lacey is currently Special Counsel at Dewey & LeBoeuf, LLP. He served as a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey from 1971 to 1986. During that period, he also served as a member of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals. From 2005 to 2007 he served as the monitor for the U.S. Department of Justice of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and was a court-appointed Independent Administrator of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 1989-1991. He was the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey 1969-1971. He has held the position of Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University Law School, the University of Texas Law School and Seton Hall University School of Law. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from Cornell Law School where he was an editor of the Cornell Law Review.

Patricia Nachtigal – Senior vice president, general counsel and a director of Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., Nachtigal is a member of the American Bar Association, the New Jersey Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She is an advisory trustee of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Greater North Jersey Chapter, and she formerly served on the U.S. Trade Representative’s Trade Advisory Committee on Africa. Nachtigal was a member of Rutgers’ Board of Trustees for 10 years, serving as chair in 2003-2004. She currently serves as vice chair of Rutgers’ Board of Governors. She is a graduate of Montclair State University and the Rutgers School of Law-Newark. She also holds a master’s degree in taxation law from the New York University School of Law.

Hollis Copeland – A Principal-Institutional Stockbroker at Williams Capital Group, Copeland is a graduate of Rutgers College. He is a former vice chair of the New York Special Olympics. Copeland speaks to youth groups on behalf of the New York Knicks. He was a standout on the great Rutgers basketball teams of the mid-1970s. He is a 1996 inductee of the Rutgers Men’s Basketball Hall of Fame. He is a member of the National Basketball Retired Players Association and the Screen Actors Guild. He is a member of Rutgers’ Board of Trustees. During his tenure on the board, he has served on various committees, including Audit, Educational Planning and Policy, Athletics and the Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee.

Abram Suydam – A senior partner at Suydam Insurance Agency, L.L.C., Suydam is a member of the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors and the Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey. He is the current director and former chair of the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce. Suydam is the former director of the National Bank of New Jersey and New Era Bank. He formerly served as director of the Meadows Foundation. He is a graduate of Cook College and has served as a member of the Rutgers Board of Trustees for eight years.

Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation’s premier public research universities. Serving more than 50,000 students on campuses in Camden, Newark and New Brunswick, Rutgers offers more than 280 bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral and professional degree programs. The university is home to 27 degree-granting schools and colleges, and more than 150 specialized centers and institutes. Rutgers is also a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, a highly selective organization comprising the 62 leading research universities in North America.