Hill Talks About the Events Surrounding Her Dismissal

Until Tuesday, Mary Alice Hill had not said much publicly about her battles within the San Diego State athletic department and her termination as athletic director Aug. 8 by university president Thomas Day.

Tuesday, Hill talked about some of what she has gone through in the past month. Part of the reason for Hill’s willingness to speak out can be attributed to her anger over Day’s decision Tuesday to order her to take a vacation through Nov. 8. At a meeting Tuesday with Day, Hill had expected to be told of her responsibilities as Day’s assistant, a position she was reassigned to when she was fired as athletic director.

- Said Hill about university officials asking her to submit to a series of psychological exams: “They said the stress of the job was very great and they weren’t sure I could handle it. I was told that they were very concerned about my health. I said I had an ulcer, and they should have been concerned back when I was working 14 to 16 hours a day and could have used assistance.

“I did not refuse to take the exams. I figured I better protect myself, so I went for two days of extensive medical and psychiatric testing at the executive health program at Scripps Memorial Hospital. I came out with a complete bill of health, and provided them with all that material at the meeting on that Saturday (Aug. 3). It wasn’t important to them then.”

Jim Bowers, senior vice president of Scripps Memorial Hospitals, confirmed Hill came in for a complete evaluation for “roughly two days” at the executive health program at Scripps Memorial Hospital.

- About her firing three members of the athletic department, who were reinstated hours later, Hill said: “My job description calls for me to have the right to hire and fire. The president reinstated those individuals and never spoke to me, which I find quite shocking.

“I had a close and professional relationship with Day. It had been up front and honest. Obviously, that had deteriorated. I don’t understand why this has happened.”

Hill said she would not go into personnel matters, but that the firings were, in part, because of the financial situation in the athletic department.

“Last year, I had the chore of cutting $600,000 from the budget to balance it. I had to reduce all areas of the program. I had to drop three sports and cut out three administrative positions (fund raising, facilities and promotions). Last year, no one cared. It was one of the ways I went about balancing the budget.”

Hill added that Steve Cushman’s fund-raising position as director of the Aztec Athletic Foundation is now funded through Terry Brown of Atlas Hotels. Atlas Hotels is an Aztec associate booster, which means it contributed $10,000 or more to the Aztec Athletic Foundation last year.

- About the Aug. 8 meeting when she was fired: “We (Hill and J. Stacey Sullivan, who she had retained as her attorney the night before) went in hoping to negotiate and come up with a compromise. I would still be athletic director, and we would agree when I would leave. He (Day) would give me another year, and then I would walk out of the position. The president didn’t want to listen to anything we had to say. His response was that it was not satisfactory.”

- About no longer being SDSU athletic director: “It was like losing a family member. What happens to me in athletics is a big part of my life. This was a great loss. I wasn’t ready to have that happen. I know my relationship with sports is done. Several people, who I think highly of, told me so.”