Rutgers Tries to Calm Furor as More Officials Quit

They also revealed that the circle of people who viewed video of abusive treatment of players by the coach, Mike Rice, as early as December was wider than previously understood, and that it included members of the university’s board of governors. That group was informed of the decision to suspend Mr. Rice for three games and send him to anger-management counseling, but not to fire him, according to Ralph Izzo, chairman of the Rutgers board.

On Friday morning, two days after Mr. Rice was fired, Athletic Director Tim Pernetti resigned, and implied that he was being made a scapegoat. He said his initial inclination when he saw the videos last fall was to fire Mr. Rice, but “Rutgers decided to follow a process involving university lawyers, human resources professionals, and outside counsel.”

Robert L. Barchi, the president of Rutgers, placed the blame on Mr. Pernetti and other senior officials who he said recommended that Mr. Rice be suspended rather than fired.

The contradictory accounts signaled a deepening discord in the fallout over a decision that has outraged state lawmakers, faculty and students.

At least one significant donor, David H. Bugen, who runs an investment firm in Chatham N.J., said he was halting plans for a new gift to the university, which he said would have been his largest ever, because he was upset at the way Mr. Pernetti had been treated.

“I am not proud,” Mr. Bugen said. “It is unfortunate how a person can be made a scapegoat.”

On Friday, the university also released a 50-page report that John P. Lacey, an outside lawyer, prepared last year in response to the abuse allegations. It made clear that Rutgers officials were aware that Mr. Rice’s outbursts “were not isolated” and that he had a fierce temper, used homophobic and misogynistic slurs, kicked his players and threw basketballs at them.

But it described Mr. Rice as “passionate, energetic and demanding” and concluded that his behavior constituted “permissible training.” It found that he aimed to “cause them to play better during the team’s basketball games.”

His methods, “while sometimes unorthodox, politically incorrect, or very aggressive, were within the bounds of proper conduct and training methods,” the report said.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, Dr. Barchi announced the resignations of Mr. Pernetti and John B. Wolf, the university’s general counsel. Dr. Barchi placed the blame for the decision to suspend rather than fire Mr. Rice in December squarely on Mr. Pernetti and the university’s lawyers, saying he had not watched the video of Mr. Rice’s actions last fall and instead had relied on their descriptions of it.

“I know had I seen the tape that my assessment would have differed from theirs, and I would have acted on my assessment,” Dr. Barchi said.

When asked why he had not watched the video, he said: “I can’t answer exactly why I didn’t. You can only say in retrospect I sure wish I had.”

In his letter of resignation, Mr. Pernetti made clear that he understood the gravity of the situation last fall.

“I have admitted my role in, and regret for, that decision, and wish that I had the opportunity to go back and override it for the sake of everyone involved,” he added.

Dr. Barchi disputed that. “I don’t recall any statement to me that his first instinct was to fire him,” he said.

He said he had been speaking regularly with Gov. Chris Christie, who pushed a plan through the New Jersey Legislature to reorganize Rutgers and higher education in the state. Mr. Christie applauded Mr. Pernetti’s decision to resign, saying, “This entire incident was regrettable, and while it has damaged the reputation of our state university, we need to move forward now on a number of fronts.”

Matt Flegenheimer, Randy Leonard and Nate Schweber contributed reporting.