Members of the Rutgers University faculty are mobilizing to call for the resignation of university president Robert Barchi for his "inexcusable handling" of the Mike Rice player abuse scandal.
When Rutgers officials became privy to a video showing head men's basketball coach Mike Rice berating players with gay slurs, pushing them, grabbing them, kicking them and throwing basketballs at them, they suspended Rice for three games after an internal investigation. That video recently became public, months after the suspension, and the school moved to fire Rice under public scrutiny.
Now a 13-person group including lawmakers, alumni, and gay-rights activists are calling for an investigation into the reason Rice was suspended for just three games after his blatant misconduct was brought to Barchi and athletic director Tim Pernetti.
According to a source close to the Rutgers University Board of Trustees Pernetti's job is safe because of his efforts in getting Rutgers into the super-profitable Big Ten conference.
Glenn Articolo, a 1991 Rutgers graduate and current radiologist in Marlton, New Jersey said, "If the roles were reversed and this was a professor and not a coach and this was a student in the classroom as opposed to a collegiate player, this would be completely different. You wouldn't say, 'This was a first offense.' There's not a single employee at Rutgers University from the president to the janitor who wouldn't be dismissed immediately. It seems there's a double standard when it comes to the basketball coach or the football coach."
In a statement Wednesday, Barchi admitted he knew about the video in November of 2012, but saw it for the first time this week and decided upon viewing that Rice needed to be fired.
Rutgers was in the news in 2010 with regards to gay rights when a student named Tyler Clementi Jr. committed suicide after having being outed by a roommate who secretly taped Clementi Jr. kissing another man.
Debbie Hadley, another 1991 graduate and a naturalist in Jackson, New Jersey, said, "After the suicide of Tyler Clementi, I thought my alma mater would take the use of gay slurs by any member of the Rutgers community -- students, faculty, administrators, or coaches - seriously. Clearly, Tim Pernetti did not. And yes, I believe he should be fired, too."
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