"At the end of the day, he has to run this place, day in and day out," said Ralph Izzo, chairman of the school's board of governors. "And I think he is the right person to run this place for many years to come.

"Dr. Barchi was brought on here eight months ago with two primary objectives: No. 1 was to build a strategic plan for this university for 10 years, going forward, to lead us to academic success and academic greatness; and No. 2, an enormous challenge of integrating a medical school with this university. Being on the job two months, hearing from a general counsel and the athletic director that there was a serious problem, I think he did the right thing by acquiescing to that advice at the time."

Barchi reiterated Friday that he had not seen the videotape until this week. Had he seen it in November, he said, he would have recommended that Rice be fired. He said Pernetti gave him a summary of what was on the Rice video at the time. When pressed, he said that in retrospect, he should have asked to view the tapes. Sources told ESPN that at least three Rutgers board members did witness the video of Rice last year and agreed with the suspension and fine as punishment.

"This was a failure of process. I regret that I did not ask to see this video when Tim first told me of its existence," Barchi said. "I want to apologize to the entire Rutgers community for the negative impact that this situation has had on Rutgers.

"I also apologize to the LGBT community and all of us who share their values for the homophobic slurs shown on that video. I personally know how hurtful that language can be."

Based on the summary he received from Pernetti, Barchi said he "agreed with and supported his recommendation to suspend, rather than fire, Coach Rice at that time. It was not until Tuesday evening of this week, when I watched the video, that I had the opportunity to witness personally for the first time what Tim had seen last fall.

"I was deeply disturbed by the behavior that the video revealed, which was much more abusive and pervasive than I had understood it to be. As Tim acknowledged on Wednesday, his decision to rehabilitate, rather than fire, Coach Rice was wrong."

Wolf is believed to have recommended against firing Rice in December. Barchi said Friday that he would appoint an interim athletic director in the coming days.

Pernetti's departure follows his firing of Rice on Wednesday and the resignation of assistant coach Jimmy Martelli, who also was seen on tape treating players in a like manner. The video was obtained by "Outside the Lines" and aired on ESPN on Tuesday.

More than 50 Rutgers faculty members had signed a letter calling for the dismissal of Pernetti for his handling of the Rice situation. Eric Murdock, the former director of player development for the Scarlet Knights, told "Outside the Lines" that he spoke with Pernetti in June and November about Rice's mistreatment of players. Murdock, whose contract wasn't renewed by the coach and AD last July, also told ESPN that he was not contacted beyond his November discussion with Pernetti and other university officials.

Murdock told "Outside the Lines" that Rice's "outrageous" behavior had caused at least three players to transfer from the team.

Murdock, as promised, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the university Friday in Essex County, N.J. ESPN reported Thursday that Murdock's attorney, Raj Gadhok, sought $950,000 from the university in December as a settlement.

Gov. Chris Christie issued a statement Friday calling Pernetti's resignation "appropriate and necessary given the events of the past six months."

"I commend President Barchi for his decisive leadership in coming to an agreement with Mr. Pernetti to have the Athletic Department of Rutgers University come under new leadership," he said. "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 which provide great opportunities for Rutgers' future."

The state university of New Jersey also is in danger of losing some of its biggest donors in tough economic times. Friday ended with some of Rutgers' biggest backers threatening to stop writing checks because they were upset Pernetti was forced out for not firing Rice when he first became aware of the video.

Tom Mendiburu, whose High Point Solutions paid $6 million for the naming rights to the university's football stadium, tweeted that he was concerned, saying he made the deal because of Pernetti.

"We've invested so much into #RU and now I'm not even sure who we turn to. Very sad day and I'm sorry Pernetti had to go through this," he tweeted.

Mendiburu said a lot of people are asking him what he is going to do -- and he isn't sure.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that Daniel Wheeler, a founding member of the Society of Queens College, was upset that Rutgers ignored prominent donors' pleas to keep Pernetti. Membership in the society, which bears the name under which Rutgers was chartered in 1766, requires a minimum of $1 million donated to the school.

"I won't say numbers, but I've given over seven figures, and like a lot of people who have done the same, I support Tim Pernetti," Wheeler told the newspaper.

Last month, Sports Business Journal named Pernetti one of its five finalists for athletic director of the year. It appeared he would survive this incident based on his past accomplishments at the school.

A 1993 Rutgers graduate who was hired as Rutgers' AD in April 2009, Pernetti was instrumental in Rutgers moving from the Big East to the Big Ten Conference for 2014. Because of the move, Rutgers will increase its media rights revenue from about $3 million annually in the Big East to more than $40 million annually by 2017, sources said.

"It's really sad. Obviously, that conduct is way, way out of bounds, " Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg. "It was unacceptable. It's sad that Tim was separated from Rutgers. I don't really know all the details. ... Obviously, there's accountability there. Institutions hire coaches and they terminate them, and really it's not an area we're involved with."

Delany said the Big Ten learned about Rice's situation only after the video aired, and didn't know the reason behind Rice's initial fine and suspension.

"I just assumed $50,000 and a three-game suspension must have been serious, but beyond that, I don't have any detail," Delany said.

The firings will not affect Rutgers' transition to the Big Ten, the conference announced Friday.

"There's no impact on their transition to membership," Delany told ESPN.com. "These issues are sort of personnel issues. These are strictly local issues, and institutions are expected to handle them, and Rutgers is handling them. Maybe not in the way they should have initially. They would acknowledge that they probably came up short, but as long as people cure the problems that they have when they come up with them, I don't know that you can do much more."

Stephen Sweeney, the president of the state Senate, called for Pernetti to step down or be fired. Sweeney said Pernetti deserved credit for getting Rutgers into the Big Ten but he mishandled what Rice had done within the program. Pernetti hired Rice away from Robert Morris, which he led to two NCAA tournament appearances, in the spring of 2010.

"This incident will continue to hang over Rutgers like a dark cloud for weeks, months and perhaps years to come," the Democratic lawmaker said in a statement Thursday. "It seems pretty clear that things were not handled well from the start."