Hermann meetings with Rutgers officials postponed

Rutgers officials postponed their on-campus meetings with new athletic director Julie Hermann that were scheduled for next week, the Newark-Star Ledger reported.

It is not clear why the meetings were postponed.

Hermann was scheduled to meet with university administrators and coaches before starting the job June 17.

Hermann's recent hire has caused controversy because of accusations that she mentally abused players when she was Tennessee's women's volleyball coach in the 1990s. She was also at the center of a 2008 sex discrimination lawsuit at Louisville, while she was a senior athletics administrator.

She received a vote of confidence from university president Robert Barchi Monday, and supporters defended her as a strong leader and advocate for women.

However, some members of the school's search committee that recommended the hiring expressed dissatisfaction with the hiring process.

Hermann was hired after former AD Tim Pernetti stepped down in the wake of a video showing then-men's basketball coach Mike Rice yelling gay slurs and hitting players during practice. Rice was fired after the video went public.