Aggie Reaction Angers Greenberg

Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg said he was outraged by remarks made Wednesday by New Mexico State administrators, who criticized him for comments he made after an anti-Semitic epithet and racial slurs were apparently directed at Long Beach on Monday night in Las Cruces, N.M.

New Mexico State Vice President William Conroy and associate athletic director Herb Taylor objected to Greenberg’s admonishing the university in a postgame tirade for its handling of volatile situations before and during a nationally televised Big West Conference game on ESPN. The epithet was scrawled on a grease board in the visitors’ locker room, and Greenberg, who is Jewish, said his African American players were the object of racial slurs during the Aggies’ 76-63 victory.

Conroy expressed regret about the incidents in a letter to Long Beach State President Robert Maxson. But he stated that Greenberg “impugned New Mexico State University and the entire State of New Mexico based on one anonymous piece of paper and alleged remarks which came from a very small number of people and which, in fact, were heard differently by persons close to the scene.”

Taylor said he resented the “very unfair” shadow that Greenberg’s comments cast on New Mexico State. And in his letter to Maxson, Conroy alluded to the recent death of Greenberg’s father, Ralph, as a possible explanation for what he perceived as inappropriate action. This infuriated Greenberg, whose father died Jan. 14 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

“That’s insulting,” Greenberg said. “My father’s death has nothing to do with my reaction. For them to make light of it is just wrong. The bottom line is there’s just no place for anti-Semitism.”

New Mexico State officials were particularly upset by Greenberg’s postgame comments because they have been replayed nationally on ESPN. Steve Shutt, assistant athletic director of media relations, said his office has been deluged by calls from alumni and community members anxious for the situation to be resolved.

Greenberg believes New Mexico State’s efforts are misguided.

“For them to be more concerned with what’s on ESPN rather than to do the right thing, come on,” he said. “That’s indicative of someone with guilt on their minds.”

New Mexico State officials began investigating the incidents Tuesday, Shutt said, but have made little progress. Aggie Coach Neil McCarthy was surprised by Monday’s incident.

“It only takes one guy,” he said. “If it happened, I’m sorry.”

The fallout from Monday night’s events have also negatively impacted the Aggie football program, as one of its top recruits has canceled a scheduled campus visit.