The University of Connecticut Chapter of 1875 Storrs Road

Storrs, Connecticut 06268

AAUP
Campus Mail: AAUP, U-6028
WWW.UCONNAAUP.ORG
Telephone: (860) 487-0450
Fax: (860) 487-0341
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, INC.
                                                     
 
 
## For Immediate Release ##

June 20, 2018

President Susan B. Herbst issued a letter on June 19, 2018 terminating the

employment of Men’s Basketball Coach Kevin Ollie. President Herbst’s action represents

the last step in a calculated process to replace Coach Ollie without paying him the amount

due to him under his employment agreement with the University of Connecticut. The pre-

determined termination process began on March 10, 2018, when Athletic Director David

Benedict claimed to have “just cause” to fire Coach Ollie based on alleged infractions of

NCAA bylaws. To be clear, the NCAA has made no finding that Coach Ollie committed a

single infraction to date. Nevertheless, in order to avoid paying Coach Ollie the money to

which he is contractually entitled, and in order to quickly move forward with the pre-

existing plan to hire Coach Dan Hurley, the University took the extreme step to declare the

existence of “just cause” on March 10, 2018, before the NCAA completed its ongoing

investigation. To falsely claim “just cause” exists for alleged NCAA infractions in order

to avoid paying a debt that is due to Coach Ollie exposes the hypocrisy of the University’s

treatment of Coach Ollie.”

 President Herbst’s June 19, 2018, letter denied there is any comparison to be made

between Coach Ollie’s harsh treatment and the treatment of similarly situated athletic

coaches employed by the University of Connecticut, in particular former Coach Jim

Calhoun. However, the public should be aware of the glaring inconsistency and double

standard this action represents when compared to the University’s past practices involving

internal enforcement of alleged NCAA infractions. In contrast to the University’s claim

here – that Coach Ollie committed “serious violations” of NCAA bylaws sufficient to

terminate his employment for just cause before the NCAA found any such violation to

occur – the University of Connecticut supported and stood by Coach Calhoun throughout

the NCAA investigation and the hearing before the Committee on Infractions. When the

NCAA finally determined Coach Calhoun and his subordinates committed major

violations, the University still stood by him. In Coach Calhoun’s case, as set forth in the

attached report issued by the NCAA on February 22, 2011, the University of Connecticut

merely issued a “letter of admonishment,” prior to the NCAA Committee on Infractions’

concluding major violations by Coach Calhoun and his staff. Even after the NCAA

concluded that Coach Calhoun violated his duties under NCAA head coach responsibility

legislation, the University of Connecticut did not deem there was just cause to terminate

Coach Calhoun’s employment. Rather, after being issued a three-game suspension by the

NCAA for his major violation, Coach Calhoun “retired” as the Head Coach. Coach

Calhoun still remains an employee of the University of Connecticut until this day.

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 On April 2, 2018, the University of Connecticut provided information to the AAUP

in response to an AAUP request setting forth 120 NCAA secondary violations by similarly

situated athletic coaches across all sports at the University of Connecticut from 2010 to the

present. The University of Connecticut never sought to terminate the employment of a

single coach for any of these secondary violations listed until the University’s desire not to

pay Coach Kevin Ollie the money he is owed made it expedient for the University to claim

it had “just cause” to fire him. Yet, during Coach Ollie’s tenure as Men’s Basketball

Coach, commencing in September of 2012, the University of Connecticut declared 11

secondary or level three infractions for the Women’s Basketball program (only two of

which were self-reported by the sport), while during the same period of time the

University reported 12 secondary or level three infractions for the Men’s Basketball

program (one of which was self-reported by the sport). During the same period of time the

football program was found to have 13 secondary or level three violations (four of which

were self-reported by the sport). The overwhelming majority of all of the reported

secondary violations were discovered by the University’s compliance department. Thus,

the unfair, differential treatment applied to Coach Ollie to avoid paying his contract is

readily apparent in the University’s treatment of him in contrast to his peers at UConn.

Just cause to fire Coach Ollie under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement

did not exist on March 10, 2018, and just cause does not exist today. Coach Ollie will

surely prevail in the arbitration proceeding that is to follow, but at great expense to his

reputation and his career. All citizens of the state who are concerned about the integrity of

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the University of Connecticut need to be aware of the unfair, double standard applied to

Coach Ollie and should speak out against this blatant inequity.

For Additional Information Contact:

Michael Bailey, Executive Director

Telephone # _
Email Address: MichaelBailey@uconnaaup.org

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