Rutgers Names Replacement for Tim Pernetti

Rutgers announced a replacement on Wednesday for former athletic director Tim Pernetti, the Oakland resident who resigned last month following a controversy surrounding basketball coach Mike Rice.

Rice came under fire in early April after videos surfaced of him harassing players during practices of the Division I program. Pernetti had been at the head of the athletics program at the time, and left the post April 5, blaming the university in his letter of resignation for overriding a decision to fire the coach.

Pernetti was born in Teaneck, grew up in Wyckoff, and now resides in Oakland.

Members of the Oakland community expressed support for Pernetti in the weeks after his resignation, which he spoke to reporters about in front of his Oakland home.

Oakland recreation softball teams carried banners reading "We play for Pernetti" two weeks after the media attention on the Rutgers controversy resulted in the firing of Rice and Petnetti's vacancy of his post at the helm of the athletics department.

Julie Hermann, who will take over the position next month, fielded questions about the controversy at a press conference announcing her appointment on Wednesday.

"We need to be an open book," Hermann told reporters, according to NJ.com. "It is a new day. It is fixed. ... That will never hapen again on this prestigious campus."

Hermann will become the first woman in Rutgers history take the job of athletic director when she assumes the position on June 7.