Brandeis Men's Head Basketball Coach Fired, Accused Of Racism

WALTHAM, MA — Brandeis men's basketball head coach was fired over allegations that he engaged in "preferential and discriminatory treatment, unprofessional behavior and racially biased harassment," the college announced this week.

The coach's firing came after a reporter from Deadspin began investigating allegations that students took to the school a year ago.

Student-athletes reportedly filed complaints against Coach Brian Meehan with the school's Human Resources department last May, Deadspin news reported, but by November of last year, things seemed to have reached a standstill. Then, a week after Deadspin reached out for comment, Meehan was fired.

The school's president Ronald Liebowitz told the community in a memo that it had to do with a new complaint.

"In light of the new complaint, we began a thorough examination and review of the prior incidents. As a result of this complaint and that review, the coach's employment with Brandeis has now been terminated," Liebowitz said.

The president then went on to call the allegations "deeply disturbing," and noted that such discrimination would not be tolerated on campus.

The coach had previously been attributed with helping the school win division titles and had plenty of fans.

At least one of the students who came forward with complaints said he didn't think it should define the coach.

“It’s interesting because I’m having a hard time disseminating between, ‘Oh, that’s just, systematically, how white people think,’ and ‘No, this specific dude—especially this older white male—is even more out-of-pocket than all the other white males around his age,’ which is a much larger societal issue, but yeah,” one of the players told Deadspin. “To paint this picture of a flaming, Donald Trump-esque figure, I think that’s reaching.”

See the full memo sent to folks in the Brandeis community:

Read the full Deadspin report here: "'I'll ship you back to Africa'

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch