A Utah automotive dealer has taken back the courtesy cars it once provided to Utah State University coaches in an apparent protest of recent firings within the school’s athletic department.
The Murdock Auto Team, co-owned by Ben, Tyson and Blake Murdock, previously provided courtesy vehicles to Utah State head coaches. Murdock ended its relationship with the USU athletic program after associate athletic directors Jerry Bovee and Amy Crosbie were fired last month.
“I’m very aware of Murdock (Auto Team)’s decision,” USU Athletic Director Diana Sabau told The Salt Lake Tribune. “We’re super appreciative for all the years of providing courtesy cars for our head coaches. And it’s their business and their decision and we respect that decision. Yeah, it hurts our coaches because now we don’t have cars for them.
“We understand that, and we will come together and we’ll recover from it. It should never be about Diana Sabau. It’s about our student athletes, and it’s about our coaches who work with our student athletes every day. So, I’m hoping that over time maybe we’ll get them back involved and maybe they’ll like the direction that we’re going. This community, this Utah State campus has had crimes of sexual violence for too long. And, to just continue to allow it to happen, I wouldn’t be proud to be associated with that.”
Bovee was fired on July 2 following a Title IX investigation, led by Kansas City-based law firm Husch Blackwell, that concluded that former head coach Blake Anderson, Bovee and director of player personnel and community engagement Austin Albrecht violated reporting policies regarding sexual assault and domestic violence cases. Crosbie was also terminated on July 8 for reasons that have not been made public.
After Sabau, USU President Elizabeth Cantwell and Utah State’s general counsel terminated Crosbie and Bovee, select members of the Logan community have voiced their displeasure about the moves. Last week, former and current student athletes signed a letter addressed to the Utah Board of Higher Education and Utah State University Board of Trustees, asking for an “independent investigation” to be done on behalf of Crosbie and Bovee.
Bovee also recently filed an official grievance against Cantwell and Sabau. He now awaits a decision from a General Grievance Counsel that will then write a letter on their decision and send it to Cantwell, who will either uphold, reject or send it back to the committee for further review.
Jeannine Bennett, who is the chair of the Utah State Foundation, spoke out in support of Sabau and Cantwell following the decisions to fire Crosbie and Bovee. She has been a donor to the university and athletic department and says she’s excited about its future direction.
“It just goes to show that the rules apply equally to everyone, and everybody is held to a high standard at Utah State University, and we have a president who is willing to make that happen regardless of the fallout, because that’s the right thing to do,” Bennett told The Tribune.
Bennett also hopes that Utah State donors who are now hesitant to donate or are pulling funds completely from the university will jump back on board in the future. More particularly, she feels more confident in the direction and the culture of the athletic department despite the pushback Sabau and others have faced from the Cache Valley community.
“I am very hopeful that they see the progress that the university is making, and also still see that there are so many students that still need our support to get their education, and that’s what we need to do as a university,” Bennett said.
“We are taking the appropriate steps to right any wrongs that have happened in the past, and so I’m sorry that we have alumni that have told their support, and I hope that with the more information they gain, that they will change their position.”
