San Jose State Athletic Director Marie Tuite on Friday was demoted and moved out of the department she has run since 2017 — the latest development in a growing scandal over the university’s handling of sex abuse allegations against a former sports trainer.
One of 12 women who led a major-college sports program, Tuite — who publicly apologized to San Jose State women athletes in a Friday statement — was moved to a university fundraising role, the school said Friday in a letter to its community. The stunning change comes just months after Tuite oversaw one of San Jose State’s best football seasons in history.
But Tuite (pronounced TOO-it) has been a central figure in claims of harassment and bullying against a coach who for years raised concerns about the behavior of Scott Shaw, the school’s former director of sports medicine. Shaw resigned last year before an independent investigation found he had sexually assaulted female athletes during sports massages. The case has attracted the attention of the FBI and attorneys from the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and spurred notice of legal action from at least 10 women athletes.
“As a leader, I am deeply sorry our student-athletes were impacted by Scott Shaw,” Tuite said in her statement, addressing the situation publicly for the first time. “I will continue to fully cooperate with any and all investigations. My key objective here is to let our community heal.”
In 2010, the school’s Human Resources office dismissed the allegations of 17 female swimmers and concluded that Shaw’s touching them beneath their sports bras and underwear during sports massages was a result of “pressure point therapy,” which, it said, was a “bona fide means of treating muscle injury.” Tuite came to San Jose State shortly thereafter but was informed of the allegations about Shaw and continued to receive additional allegations.
SJSU President Mary Papazian, who arrived at San Jose State in 2016, said she opened a second investigation into the matter in late 2019 after receiving 300 pages of materials that swim coach Sage Hopkins had sent to officials at the National Collegiate Athletic Association and Mountain West conference.
The latter investigation substantiated the women athletes’ allegations and reversed the findings of the original inquiry. Shaw resigned last August, four months after USA Today published an expose about the allegations. He was never arrested or charged with a crime over the incidents.
On Friday, a lawyer who represents 12 of the women said Tuite’s reassignment was only the start of what the university must do to make things right.
“Institutional reform at SJSU is fundamental to our clients’ pursuit of justice,” said attorney Shounak S. Dharap of the Arns Law Firm in San Francisco. “This is an important partial step towards the lasting change sought by these survivors and towards vindicating the abuse they allege was concealed and ratified by the university.”
Earlier this week, the California State University Academic Senate passed a resolution supporting individuals’ right to speak out against abuse, specifically noting the San Jose State situation.
Tuite is a defendant in two wrongful termination lawsuits by former employees as well as a whistleblower case brought by Hopkins, who claims athletic department officials retaliated against him for complaining over the years about Shaw.
In his lawsuit, Hopkins accuses Tuite and other administrators of issuing a “No Contact Order” that forbids him from setting foot inside the athletic department building. Hopkins claims they urged campus police to investigate whether he followed the university’s mandatory reporting protocol when he learned that one of his swimmers had been abused years ago by a youth swim coach. He also says Tuite tried to pressure him to drop a retaliation grievance against her in exchange for a pay raise and renewing his contract. He refused, he said, and they ultimately gave him a raise anyway.
The university’s statement Friday did not address who would run the athletic department or whether Papazian plans to find an outside replacement. Papazian did not make a statement in the community letter, and school spokesman Kenneth Mashinchi did not respond to a Bay Area News Group request for comment.
Tuite will become special director of external relations and capital project development effective immediately, according to the statement. Her responsibilities will include increasing financial support for the athletics department, with an emphasis on a variety of facilities on the South Campus. University officials did not respond to questions about whether she would continue to receive the same salary, which in 2019-2020 was $343,714, according to SpencerFane, a national law firm that publishes an annual athletic directors’ compensation survey.
The school’s move Friday was met with cynicism and speculation by some in the campus community.
“This is a common play in higher ed and certainly here where someone under fire for good reason is given a soft exit,” said Jason Laker, a San Jose State professor who exposed sexual harassment by now-retired professor Lewis Aptekar and settled a whistleblower lawsuit against the university in the aftermath.
Tuite, a former field hockey and basketball star at Central Michigan, was hired as the athletic department’s chief operations officer in 2010. She was named athletic director in May 2017, taking over for Gene Bleymaier. She has held many athletics administrative jobs since 1981, including stints at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Washington, Seattle University and at the NCAA as assistant director of championships from 1989-1994.
“I love San José State University and I am committed to its mission,” she said in her statement Friday. “My new role allows me to continue this important work, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so.”