From Point Boro to D.C.: "Rutgers Right to Fire Rice"

From Point Borough to New Brunswick to Washington D.C., reaction came swift and unsparingly Wednesday to news of Rutgers firing basketball coach Michael Rice.

David Drew, coach of the highly successful Point Pleasant Borough High School girls basketball team, when asked on Wednesday afternoon, said that he agreed with the university's decision to fire the coach captured on video being verbally and physically abusive towards his own team.

The abuse, as captured on this ESPN Outside the Lines video, included Rice using homophobic, insulting slurs and curse words, kicking players and throwing balls at players, including at their heads.

University administration had seen the video and other footage last year, fined Rice $50,000 and suspended him for thee games in December.

In a television interview Wednesday, Rice himself said, "I was wrong."

Drew wrote in an email, "It is sad to see that Coach Rice would say the things he did and react to those situations in a physical and verbally abusive manner.

"There is no excuse for the way he went about doing things in the ESPN Outside the Lines report. I have never been to a Rutgers practice or to a Rutgers game for that matter, but Coach Rice did not look good in that video. I know he was suspended prior to this video for other matters, so I am not suprised he has been fired."

Chris Ferrone, a physical education teacher at Point Borough High School, said in an email: "I think Rutgers did the right thing! That is not how educators should act. I think sometimes coaches forget the big picture. Athletics is an extension of the classroom. It is about developing young men/women into exemplary citizens."

Garden State Equality, which advocates for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people, applauded the decision to terminate Rice, but said the matter is far from over.

"Rutgers University has fired Coach Mike Rice after outrage from Garden State Equality members and New Jerseyans over Rice's anti-LGBT slurs and physical bullying of students," the organization said on its Facebook page.

"There's no place for hate at Rutgers University," said Garden State Equality. "Firing Coach Mike Rice is not enough. Rutgers officials knew about the video of Coach Rice using anti-gay slurs and physical intimidation toward players in practice sessions and the anti-gay harassment for months before it came to light. We demand a full and thorough investigation."

On its website, Garden State Equality is asking for signatures on a petition demanding a full investigation.

U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ-12), said Rice's behavior illustrates the need for Congress to pass their bill, the “Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act.”

“This incident shows us that physical and emotional abuse of college students by faculty is occurring right under our noses," said Lautenberg and Holt in a prepared statement.

"Our Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harrassment Act would require colleges to implement policies strictly prohibiting faculty from bullying students and this incident highlights the need for Congress to support our bill.  

"Rutgers made the right decision by finally firing Mike Rice for his deplorable actions and homophobic slurs, but more needs to be done to make sure this type of abuse is stopped and a strong code of conduct protecting students from such harassment is enforced.

"We will keep working to stop bullying and ensure that no parent has to worry that his or her child is being abused by their leaders or peers when they are on a college campus,” stated Lautenberg and Holt.  

The bill was recently re-introduced in this session of Congress.

In response to a tragic bullying incident at Rutgers University two years ago, Lautenberg and Holt have worked closely with Rutgers and other institutions of higher education to address bullying on campus and introduced the “Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act,” the statement says.

Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers New Brunswick student, was engaged in an intimate encounter with a man as Clementi's roommate and another student filmed them in 2010. When Clementi later learned that he had been filmed, he committed suicide.

"The legislation would directly apply to this situation at Rutgers as it would specifically prohibit 'harassment of enrolled students by other students, faculty and staff,' " the statement says.

The legislation for the first time would require colleges and universities to have in place anti-harassment policies. The bill would provide funding for a competitive grant program to support schools seeking to establish or expand programs to prevent harassment of students.