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LOGAN — One of three Utah State officials fired last week said he did nothing wrong and plans to fight his termination.
Jerry Bovee, who was Utah State's interim athletic director in 2023, said he was "blindsided" by Utah State's decision to fire him last week for "violations of university policies related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence and failures of professional responsibilities."
A statement from the university's administration late last week said that after an investigation by a law firm, Bovee was one of three employees being fired for "actions that took place in the spring of 2023."
The school also announced the suspension of Utah State's head football coach Blake Anderson and football director of player development and community Austin Albrecht. The reason for Albrecht's firing was the same as Bovee's termination, which was not complying with Title lX policies in that 2023 incident.
A statement from Utah State said that the school's Title IX policies "require full and timely reporting of disclosures of sexual misconduct — including domestic violence — and prohibit employees from investigating disclosures of sexual misconduct themselves."
But Bovee said he did comply with the school's Title lX rules, and he has retained an attorney as he plans to fight his firing and defend his reputation using any avenue available.
His statement, which was released Sunday, said, "Jerry Bovee, recently terminated by Utah State University, is vigorously defending his reputation as a loyal Aggies alum and stellar associate vice president & deputy athletics director. With decades of athletic leadership under his belt, Bovee is a firm supporter and defender of Title IX civil rights law. In his tenured career, he has never incurred disciplinary action or accusations of misconduct of any kind."
It continues, "(he) understands he was terminated based on an inconclusive and untimely review of an incident that took place more than a year ago in April of 2023, while he was interim athletic director. Contrary to what has been represented, Bovee and two other USU employees did in fact report the incident to the USU Office of Equity. Even so, the external review did not commence until the fall of 2023. And not until July 2, 2024, some eight months later, was Bovee summarily terminated, without an opportunity to respond to the results of the review."
The statement adds that Bovee will file a grievance with Utah State University.
"Because this is a fluid situation, Bovee cannot comment further other than to say he has no ill will against USU, an institution that he loves," the statement said. "Bovee trusts the university will consider in good faith all the circumstances specific to his actions in considering his grievance and will also refrain from further comment while his grievance is pending."
Anderson reached out to KSL Radio through his attorney after the firings were announced. Tom Mars, an attorney representing Anderson, said Utah State lacked justification to fire Anderson for cause.
"Like any university, Utah State could fire Blake Anderson for any reason as long as they paid his buyout," Mars said. "However, based on the facts alleged and the language in Blake's employment agreement, USU is going to be fighting an uphill battle if they try to fire him for cause just to avoid paying Blake what he's owed."
Mars' comments also indicate that Anderson can't be held responsible for someone else's failure. It is unclear if he believes any of his supervisors or school administrators failed to follow Title lX requirements, only that he isn't responsible for their actions.
"Stiffing a head coach by blaming him for what his supervisor allegedly failed to do is a novel approach that hasn't been tried before, but that theory will never hold up in court."
