Hill Is Out as SDSU Athletic Director : She Will Be Assistant to President Day Until Nov. 8 Termination

Mary Alice Hill, the first female athletic director at a football-playing NCAA Division 1 school, was relieved as San Diego State athletic director Thursday morning by university President Thomas Day.

Hill raised Day’s ire by firing three employees and severing ties with one private contractor July 24. Hours later, Day reinstated the employees and the contract was reported not to be severed, and Day said Thursday that the world of SDSU athletics “was different” after that.

Hill had originally served as interim athletic director and was named athletic director Jan. 2, 1984.

She has been given a three-month reassignment to Day’s office as assistant to the president. On Nov. 8, 1985, Hill’s contract with the university will be terminated.

Hill’s new position is the same one former Athletic Director Gene Bourdet occupied from the time of his reassignment Aug. 15, 1983, to his retirement June 30, 1985.

Day issued a statement Thursday saying Hill was relieved as athletic director, but he never explained why.

“I will not discuss details of personnel action,” said Day, who spoke to the media for the first time in more than two weeks after Thursday’s meeting, during which he relieved Hill of her duties as athletic director. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about personnel matters.”

In his statement, Day said that the financial audit of the athletic department, which he ordered last week, had nothing to do with his decision.

“In the material and reports already brought to my attention, which I have studied carefully, there is nothing indicating illegal or seriously improper financial actions within the athletics management,” Day said.

What about the events of July 24? If that the firings and the contract severing had not occurred, would Day still have relieved Hill?

“No,” Day said. “That was an action which generated a lot of interest in the press. It led me to call an audit. The world was different after that.”

On July 26, Day ordered Hill to take a two-week vacation. Shortly after, Day asked the university to conduct the audit. Day said he would disclose the conclusions of the audit when it is completed, which he thinks will be by the end of next week.

Day also said an acting athletic director will be named within a few days, and the search for a new director would not begin for several weeks. He said the acting director would probably not be kept as the new director.

Until the interim athletic director is named, Day said vice-presidents Dan Nowak (student affairs) and Bill Erickson (business and financial affairs) and himself would be in charge of the athletic department.

J. Stacey Sullivan of the law firm of Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley and Casey, the attorney retained by Hill on Wednesday night, said he had to review a substantial number of documents before he would say what Hill’s next move would be.

“I’m not quite sure of the reason for her firing,” Sullivan said as he left the president’s office in the administration building Thursday. “It is not a simple set of reasons. The existing relationship has somehow been affected in a way he (Day) didn’t like. I think this is a serious matter, and we’ll approach it seriously.”

Hill, 45, brought suit against Colorado State University in 1975, after her contract as associate athletic director for women’s sports was not renewed. She sued the university on grounds that the termination had violated her First Amendment freedom of speech rights because she had spoken repeatedly and strongly for women’s sports. A Colorado jury concurred with Hill and awarded her $65,000 in damages in 1977.

Litigation is a possibility, Sullivan said. However, he said he did not take the case Wednesday night with the thought of just going through the motions before preparing to litigate.

Applying to the university for reconsideration is another option Sullivan is exploring.

“There is the old theory that sometimes you have to exhaust administrative remedies before you take your next step,” Sullivan said. “I don’t know if we have to do that.”

Day said the reconsideration arrangement, which is only a year old at SDSU, is for management personnel not covered by union agreements. Hill falls in that category. Day said ultimately, the decision for reconsideration comes back to him.

Sullivan spent a couple of hours with Hill after Thursday’s meeting, and said he would be unable to immediately recommend a course of action. He had a coastal committee hearing Thursday afternoon, and said he would review Hill’s case in the evening.

“It’s very sensitive right now,” Sullivan said. “I have to do a serious job of investigating the situation.”

At the advice of Sullivan, Hill is not commenting on what she believes caused her dismissal.

That still may come. For now, Hill said she is “disappointed.”

“I really love this institution,” she said. “This is tough. My biggest disappointment is we had a lot of programs we were implementing that I was really excited about.”

As she left the administration building Thursday morning, Hill added a short, but powerful, parting remark.

“I think me getting a job in athletics is over after this,” said Hill, who is one of 44 members of the NCAA Council, a policy-setting body for college sports.

The council meets next week. Day said he will either have Jim Malik (faculty representative), an assistant athletic director, himself, or possibly Hill attend the meeting on behalf of SDSU.

That matter is still up in the air, as is the status of the SDSU athletic department.

Said longtime Aztec booster Tom Ables: “I’m not surprised in the face of the way it has gone. At this point, you have to have some kind of change to straighten things out. You fire the whole ballclub or the manager.

“As for Mary, I feel bad for her. I think she gave it a real good shot to make it. Maybe the pressure was too much. Probably the most damaging comment she made was when she said she ‘didn’t trust anybody except two people in her department.’ ”

Hill reportedly made that comment a couple of weeks ago. Since then, each day seemed to be filled with another controversy, accusation and difficulty. Just Monday, Hill fired her previous attorney, William Woods, because she said she did not like the comments he made to the press following a meeting they had with Day on Saturday.

At 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Hill ran out of time.

After a futile attempt by Sullivan to contact Day in the hope of getting Thursday’s meeting rescheduled for a later date, Sullivan and Hill arrived at Day’s office at 9:55. Sullivan said he was unable to reach Day on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

The meeting was set to begin at 10. Day, William Knight (attorney for the California State System who represented SDSU) and Sally Roush (director of personnel services) were present when Hill and Sullivan arrived.

“I felt that before any decision was made it would be mutually beneficial for the university and Mary Alice Hill to have the meeting rescheduled,” Sullivan said. “We were not given the opportunity.”

Said Day: “There comes a time when you have to reach closure.”

Thursday was that day, and Sullivan was not pleased.

“I was absolutely surprised that Day wouldn’t give this woman four to five days,” Sullivan said. “I don’t think it was a wise idea. I believed he would accede to that request.”

Sullivan said he interrupted Day at one point during the meeting when he anticipated the “end coming.”

“I told the president we would like to have the opportunity to discuss other things,” Sullivan said. “The opportunity was foreclosed. The document was prepared before we walked in.”

Said Day: “This was a very, very difficult decision. One of the most difficult decisions I’ve made in a long time.”

In the press release, Day added: “Mary Alice has made many significant contributions to San Diego State athletics. Especially in the recent years as Director, she has guided the program through some very difficult times. I am personally extremely saddened to lose her.”

When asked if he had second thoughts about having hired Hill as athletic director, Day said, “that given the information I had at the time and the circumstances at the time, I would do it again.”

SDSU ADs Under Thomas Day

Athletic Director Start Finish Reason Ken Karr 7-1-69 1-12-79 Resigned Cedric Dempsey 3-14-79 7-13-79 Resigned Gene Bourdet 7-18-79 8-15-83 Health Mary Alice Hill* 8-15-83 8-8-85 Fired

Note: Day became president at San Diego State on July 1, 1978

* Hill was orginally interim athletic director and was named athletic director Jan. 1, 1984.