BOISE — University of Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear has been fired.
The Idaho State Board of Education voted to terminate Spear’s employment agreement with the university at its meeting in Pocatello this morning.
"The Idaho State Board of Education, sitting as the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho, made a difficult decision today about the university’s athletic director," the board said in a statement. "University leadership respects this decision and will work closely with the board and, with the support of our university community, will continue to move our great institute forward in a positive and productive way. Pete Isakson has been serving the university well as acting athletic director during this difficult time. He will continue in this role for the foreseeable future."
Spear has been under fire for his handling of sexual misconduct allegations leveled against a former football player by a female swimmer in 2013.
Earlier this year a U of I graduate published an online blog post detailing an off-campus sexual assault when she was a student in 2013 and how she claims the athletic director failed to take her report seriously.
A recently-released investigation found that the department failed to support the victim in a number of ways.
This included the school’s incorrect belief that because the assault happened off campus it was a matter for police and not for the university to address.
The report says Dr. Spear and others with the athletic department were unaware of national collegiate changes made in 2011 that mandated off-campus sexual misconduct is the responsibility of the school.
The report also said that Spear's comments to the victim and her family in the aftermath of the assault were defensive and lacked compassion.
Spear will receive compensation for the remainder of the term of his employment agreement. The agreement terminates on Feb. 17, 2020. Spear has been athletic director at the U of I since 2004. He was put on paid administrative leave back in February.
Prior to the vote Board Member Emma Atchley made the following statement and motion:
“We’re involved in consideration of Dr. (Rob) Spear’s employment status as a result of President (Chuck) Staben’s disclosure of a conflict of interest and at President Staben’s request to recuse himself. As a result of the President’s recusal, the Board is not considering or giving any weight to information or opinions he may have provided. The independent report commissioned by the University to review the University’s response to 2012 and 2013 allegations of sexual misconduct identified in a number of ways the University failed to respond appropriately to allegations of sexual misconduct. The investigators concluded that the University failed to provide proper notice and education to the University community of significant changes to its policies regarding sexual misconduct. The report said “[t]he result of the failures to provide proper notice of policy changes and education regarding Title IX resulted in those in the Athletics Department (as well as in other departments), lacking an understanding of the appropriate processes to address allegations of misconduct.” We’ve considered the report, comments received from the public and the university community, information received from the University’s counsel, and information received from Dr. Spear and his legal counsel. After considering this information and what’s in the University’s and the students’ best interest, I move to terminate for convenience pursuant to Dr. Spear’s employment agreement with the University.”
Because this is a personnel matter, neither the Board, nor individual Board members will make any further statements.