Marie Tuite, the former San Jose State athletic director whose handling of sex abuse allegations led to her reassignment in May, has left the school.
Tuite, 67, announced her departure in an email Friday to some athletic department staff members. The school has made no announcement.
“Now, after all the unique challenges and circumstances presented during this past year, it is an ideal opportunity for me to close one chapter in my career and turn my time and energies to exploring future opportunities. Accordingly, I am resigning from my current position with the University effective today,” she wrote.
One of 12 women athletic directors in the country, Tuite presided over the most successful football season in 80 years at San Jose State. Her decision to extend the contract of coach Brent Brennan after a three-year record of 8-29 paid dividends in 2020 when the Spartans went 7-0 and won the Mountain West championship. Despite losing its bowl game, SJSU was ranked 24th in the final Associated Press poll.
Tuite’s fall from those heights began soon thereafter, but it was rooted in her actions over the course of several years. Tuite (pronounced TOO-it) was accused of harassing and bullying a swim coach who for years raised concerns about the behavior of Scott Shaw, the school’s former director of sports medicine. Shaw resigned last year before an independent investigation found he had sexually assaulted female athletes under the guise of therapeutic massages.
The swim coach, Sage Hopkins, named Tuite in a whistleblower case, alleging that she retaliated against him.
In May, with the calls for Tuite’s ouster intensifying, school president Mary Papazian reassigned her to a fund-raising position.
A field hockey and basketball star at Central Michigan, Tuite was hired as the athletic department’s chief operations officer in 2010. She was named athletic director in May 2017, taking over for Gene Bleymaier.
“I am leaving with great memories and a strong sense of accomplishment,” she wrote. “It has been an honor to be part of this incredible University and I will dearly miss every aspect. Go Spartans!”
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