Columbia Football Coach Resigns Amidst Allegations

Columbia head football Coach Larry McElreavy, who led his team to its first victory in five years, announced his resignation last month in the wake of a public furor over allegations of personal misconduct.

"False accusations have been made against me by an assistant coach, and the publicity generated has harmed my family, the players and the football program," McElreavy said in a statement issued by the athletic department. "I cannot subject those I love and admire to further public abuse. I have therefore decided to step down as head football coach."

The previous week Assistant Coach Doug Jackson publicly alleged that McElreavy had been involved in an extramarital affair and had problems with alcohol abuse. These problems, Jackson said, undermined the head coach's authority and damaged team morale.

Following the allegations, the football team met on November 28 without their head coach and cast a 28-16 vote of no confidence in his ability, The Columbia Spectator reported.

In accepting McElreavy's resignation, Columbia Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Norman Mintz said that McElreavy "resigned for his best interests."

But the university has drawn criticism from some players who have said the administration should have acted earlier on student complaints. Complaints about McElreavy's conduct off the field were not taken seriously by Columbia officials, the players said.

A search committee consisting of faculty, administrators and students has been formed to seek a replacement for McElreavy.

The resignation follows an unrelated incident in which an assistant football coach was accused of encouraging anti-gay harrassment of a dining hall worker. The worker, who was kissed by another male worker while he was preparing food, subsequently received a "homophobic" note.

Protesters Confront Yale Corp.

Members of the Yale Corporation were greeted with protests from students and alumni as they left their montly meeting last week.

About 200 students and alumni of the Yale School of Organization and Management--the rough equivalent of Harvard's Business School--stood outside the meeting to protest what they say are crucial curriculum and faculty that will change the tenor of the school.

The protesters, who chanted "Save Our School," called on the Corporation, the University's top governing body, to give them a greater voice in changes at the School.

"We are here because what we love is now threatened, threatened by the content of the changes and more profoundly by the process in which these changes were imposed," Matthew Broder a 1987 graduate of the management school told the Associated Press. "Such tactics might have worked in the military but this is Yale University, not the Marines."

Penn State Eyes Tree Snatchers