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Search committee co-chairs Kate Sweeney and Richard Edwards listen to a press conference at the Rutgers University Visitor Center to introduce Julie Hermann as the new athletic director to replace Tim Pernetti.

(John Munson/The Star-Ledger)

PISCATAWAY — Patti Phillips was in her office at the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators last month when the call came in from an alumna of Rutgers University.

The caller had one request: A list of names of women who could be Rutgers’ first-ever female athletic director.

"She was looking for a diverse pool," said Phillips, chief executive director of the association. "She did say the president was open to hiring a woman."

The caller was Kate Sweeney, a Rutgers graduate, former college athlete and co-chair of the search committee looking for the university’s new athletic director in the wake of its recent basketball scandal.

Phillips said she gave Sweeney the names of several women — including University of Louisville athletics administrator Julie Hermann — and later spoke with the search firm hired to help Rutgers with the hunt.

Over the next few weeks, Sweeney would be key to getting Hermann hired as Rutgers' new athletic director. Behind the scenes, she campaigned for Hermann as Rutgers whittled down its list to three finalists, according to those close to the search.

Sweeney, 57, also stepped up to publicly and privately fight for Hermann to keep her job last weekend amid allegations the new athletic director verbally and mentally abused her players while coach of the University of Tennessee’s volleyball team in the 1990s.

Rutgers introduces Julie Hermann as new AD 12 Gallery: Rutgers introduces Julie Hermann as new AD

She said she had no regrets about helping get Hermann hired.

"I look at what Julie has done over the last 16 years," Sweeney told The Star-Ledger after learning about the abuse allegations. "She is dynamic and has a great mind."

Sweeney, who did not return calls to be interviewed for this story, has a long history with Rutgers. She captained both the basketball and lacrosse teams before graduating from Rutgers’ Cook College in 1979 with a degree in natural resource management.

After college, Sweeney worked in the financial industry, working at Paine Webber and eventually becoming a certified financial planner and senior vice president with Morgan Stanley in New Brunswick.

Her bio on the Morgan Stanley website says she enjoys birding, urban gardening, and golf, scoring two holes-in-one in a single year on the 12th hole of the Pine Barrens Golf Course in Jackson.

Sweeney has also remained active at her alma mater. She has served as a volunteer on various Rutgers boards, including the Rutgers University Alumni Association Board of Directors and the Rutgers University Foundation Presidents Council Executive Committee. The photo on her Facebook page is Rutgers’ scarlet "R" logo.

She has also handed out student scholarships as co-founder of the Rutgers University Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Alumni/ae Association, known as RU Bi-GLATA.

Rutgers officials were eager to tap her expertise when they appointed Sweeney to co-chair the 28-person search committee to find a replacement for Tim Pernetti, the athletic director who resigned for his part in failing to fire basketball coach Mike Rice last year after video emerged of the coach manhandling and shouting gay slurs at players.

Sweeney took it upon herself to make sure women were among the candidates for the job, according to those close to the search.

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Phillips, head of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators, said several of the women she suggested to Sweeney made it to the first round of interviews for the Rutgers job along with Hermann.

At the Rutgers press conference announcing Hermann’s appointment, several top women in college sports traveled to Piscataway to celebrate the history-making announcement. Sweeney was in the middle of the celebration, sharing in some of the credit for getting Hermann hired.

"I was impressed," said Robin Harris, executive director of Ivy League Sports, said about meeting Sweeney at the event. "I was like this is a woman who has her act together."

Facing the press, Hermann thanked Sweeney and Rutgers executive vice president Richard Edwards, the other search committee co-chair, from the podium after her appointment.

"They, first of all, had me at ‘hello’ when I met them," Hermann said of meeting Sweeney and Edwards.

Hermann later joined Sweeney, Phillips and Harris in a group photo at the press conference, saying "1-2-3 — We did it!" as the camera snapped.

Star-Ledger staff writers Craig Wolff and Brendan Prunty contributed to this report.

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