Rutgers AD Mulcahy says he refused to resign, was fired

Robert E. Mulcahy

said he was fired as Rutgers' athletic director after refusing a request by university president

Richard L. McCormick

to resign.

"When I asked if I had done anything wrong and was told 'No,' I felt there was no reason for me to offer my resignation," Mulcahy said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press yesterday. "In effect, he terminated me."

Mulcahy said he had no idea that McCormick would ask for his resignation when he was summoned to the president's office about 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Mulcahy said he did not try to talk McCormick out of his decision after the president said the university was looking to go in a different direction with its athletic department.

The firing, which will be effective on Dec. 31, came less than a month after an independent committee appointed to review the university's athletic program criticized Mulcahy, McCormick and other officials for failing to exercise proper oversight.

The 72-year-old Mulcahy will have to be paid the remaining 1 1/2 years on his contract.

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