Three weeks after the reassignment of Marie Tuite, San Jose State’s former athletic director, her successor Jeffrey Konya discussed his plans for the athletic department in a news conference hosted on Zoom Monday.
SJSU President Mary Papazian stated in a Saturday campuswide email Konya was previously the athletic director for Northeastern University (NU) in Boston from 2018-21, has 20 years of leadership experience and award-winning athletics administrator experience.
Konya said he intends to prioritize his work as athletic director to collaborate with student-athletes, athletic department faculty and staff, and students.
“We will build and how we're going to do this, we're going to have authentic conversations with our student-athletes,” Konya said during the news conference. “We're going to talk with the leadership, the student-athlete advisory committee, we're going to gain their perspective.”
Bella Bowers, a former women’s soccer athlete and spring 2021 alumna, said communication between Tuite and student-athletes wasn’t consistent.
Bowers was part of SJSU’s student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) for two years.
The SAAC serves as a communication connection between student-athletes and the athletics administration to better the student-athlete experience, according to the university athletics website.
“I'm hoping that [Konya’s] transparent with the athletes and when [student-athletes] need something from him or from his administration, or if he needs something from [student-athletes], that there's just a clear line of communication,” Bowers said in a phone call.
She also said she hopes the athletics administration continues their work in shifting to a more inclusive culture that celebrates diversity.
Konya said he has a commitment to social and racial justice, and gender equity.
“These are things I look forward to working with the students on,” Konya said during the news conference. “It's not going to be lip service, it's not going to be Facebook likes either, we're going to take action.”
Under Konya's leadership, NU athletics collaborated with its student-athletes to form the first-ever Black Athlete Caucus to illuminate the voices within the Black athletic community, according to the Saturday campuswide email.
While Konya said he hasn’t spoken with his predecessor, he said he expects to have a conversation with Tuite in the future about South Campus facility projects and the Mountain West Conference.
Tuite assumed the position of special director of external relations and capital projects development where she’ll work in athletic fundraising with an emphasis on South Campus facilities, Papazian said in a May 22 campuswide email.
The reassignment came after Tuite was accused of retaliation in pending litigations.
One of the lawsuits came in March from Sage Hopkins, swimming and diving head coach, who filed to the Santa Clara County Superior Court against CSU and university administrators, including Tuite.
The legal action accuses administrators of ignoring reported incidents of sexual assault by Scott Shaw, former director of sports medicine, and retaliating against whistleblowers, according to the 93-page court documents obtained by the Spartan Daily.
Shaw was accused by 17 female student-athletes of inappropriately touching them while performing trigger point therapy, according to an April 17, 2020 USA Today article.
Shaw was the director of sports medicine from 2008 to his resignation in August 2020.
Former deputy athletic director Steve O’Brien also filed a lawsuit in March against Tuite and other university trustees for firing him in retaliation, according to a March 2 USA Today article.
O’Brien said Tuite allegedly instructed him to discipline Hopkins after he resurfaced the decade-long sexual misconduct allegations involving Shaw in 2019, according to the same USA Today article.
Tuite fired O’Brien without explanation on March 2, 2020 when he told other SJSU officials that her commands to reprimand Hopkins could’ve been retaliatory, according to the same USA Today article.
While litigations against Tuite and other administrators on retaliation claims are pending, Konya said he’s going to let the lawsuits run their courses and focus on the department culture.
Konya said he intends to prioritize creating an atmosphere of student-athlete success and “authentic” relationships with those in the athletic department.
During Monday’s conference, Papazian said Konya has been briefed on the 2009-10 and 2019 investigations involving Shaw.
The 2009 investigation concluded the claims of sexual assault were unsubstantiated, however Papazian opened a reinvestigation in December 2019 proved the sexual assault allegations to be true.
Papazian and Konya both emphasized moving forward for the future of the athletic department.
Konya said the athletics department will improve as administrators aim to be more open and transparent with the student-athletes, faculty and staff.
“[Athletic administrators will] take advantage of the opportunity that we have to influence student-athletes, to provide them the best opportunities for them to become the best versions of themselves in the classroom and [in] athletics, and as they develop into future leaders in society.”
