Ray Rice Rutgers.JPG

Rutgers' Ray Rice

(Chris Faytok/The Star-Ledger)

Before Ray Rice was an NFL star, he donned red for the Scarlet Knights as part of the Rutgers football program.

Now, with damning video surveillance evidence of Rice striking his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, in an elevator at an Atlantic City hotel, the program must answer questions about how to treat one of its most famous alumni.

When asked about Rice's standing as a member of Rutgers family, head coach Kyle Flood didn't hesitate to note that the former backfield star is a Scarlet Knight, but condemned the violence.

"Ray will always be a part of our family,'' Flood said. "The video I saw this morning was difficult to watch. As a husband and as a father, there’s nothing that could justify what I saw on that video.''

For fans in attendance during Saturday's home opener against Howard, the video board showed a "Knights in the NFL" clip, including Rice. On Monday, Flood was asked about Rice's inclusion in the video moving forward, starting with the high-profile game against Penn State.

"We’ll make those decisions later in the week. Those are things that I’m really not that involved in", Flood said. "But this is all kind of new this morning so we’ll make those decisions later in the week.''

How should Rutgers handle Rice moving forward? Should he still be "part of the family" for the Scarlet Knights? Is it time to cut ties with Rice?

Vote in our poll and sound off below in the comments section.

Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.