Sports

Oakland Rec Commissioner Pernetti's Legacy Felt at Rutgers

Former athletics director earning credit for fundraising efforts, move to Big East.

Former Rutgers athletic director and current Oakland recreation football commissioner Tim Pernetti is no longer at the university, but his impact is being felt as the school heads into a new year of college sports.

Pernetti, an Oakland resident, resigned from his position at the university after allegations of player harassment leveled at basketball coach Mike Rice—and videos supporting the charges—plunged the school’s athletics program into a national controversy.

Pernetti’s resignation remains controversial, with some sports pundits defending the ousted AD, particularly after his replacement’s role in a discrimination lawsuit at her previous job surfaced but left her position at the university largely unquestioned.

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“Ousted wrongly from Rutgers this past April after he followed the will of the Board of Governors in the handling of the Mike Rice situation,” wrote sports columnist Kristian Dyer in a recent editorial, “Pernetti became the fall guy for the university.”

According to Dyer, Pernetti’s move to situate the Scarlet Knights in the Big East beginning in the 2014 season has put the school’s football program on track for a boost, attracting top tier high school players that in prior seasons might have signed on elsewhere.

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Pernetti has also been credited with unprecedented fundraising efforts for the university during his time there, and the fruits of over $10 million raised for the Rutgers Athletic Center will begin showing soon.

Renovations on the building began this weekend, and current athletic director Julie Hermann told the Asbury Park Press that a new scoreboard and video screen will be add to the experience of basketball games and be “a revenue opportunity” for the school.

While his legacy shapes up at Rutgers, Oakland has supported the football commissioner from the beginning. Soon after his resignation, Oakland recreation players made strong shows of support.

In April, softball teams proudly displayed the signs: “We play for Pernetti.”



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