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BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – On Tuesday, University of Vermont athletic director Jeff Schulman announced he had fired men’s hockey head coach Todd Woodcroft. On Wednesday, Schulman spoke further on his decision.
“I saw the final AAEO report on Monday of this week,” Schulman said. “Obviously took some time to review it, discussed it with other senior leaders in the athletic department, and then made the determination that it was no longer appropriate for him to be coaching the men’s ice hockey team.”
AAEO is UVM’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity. Schulman said following the conclusion of the men’s hockey season, a student initially reported to the athletic department that Todd Woodcroft had sent “inappropriate text messages.” The athletic department then forwarded the accusations to the AAEO on March 16th, and that office initiated a formal investigation soon after, but Schulman couldn’t give the exact date.
“You can look at something at face value without context and it’s just something we all want to be cautious about to make sure that we’re being thorough. These are serious matters that have impact on people’s lives, and I think all of us at UVM have a ton of respect for our office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity that does this,” Schulman said. “They’re the professionals. As I mentioned, they operate independent of athletics. We’re not best positioned to be investigating these types of situations. And it’s one of the reasons that I have the confidence I do that once I do receive a final report that lays out what the findings are, I’m confident that that’s accurate and feel comfortable acting on those findings.”
Schulman said after receiving the report on Monday, he informed Woodcroft of his termination on Tuesday. During the four months that investigation was ongoing, Woodcroft was never placed on administrative leave, instead being told to work from home and to not contact the student who received the texts, or any other students who might be involved with the case.
“The university has a process to determine whether the conduct constituted a violation of the university policy. And part of taking these issues seriously is making sure that everybody involved is treated fairly, both the complainant and the respondent.”
Woodcroft’s lawyer Andrew Miltenberg told WCAX: “We vehemently disagree with the process and the findings of a proceeding that lacked fundamental fairness and due process. We strongly believe the university’s decision was contrary to the facts and the law. We intend to pursue justice for Mr. Woodcroft, who has been an outstanding coach and community advocate for over two decades.”
But Schulman says the details in the final report convinced him quickly that firing Woodcroft was the right decision.
“I read his attorneys comments. Again, I feel very confident in the university’s process. That it was thorough, that it was fair, that Todd was afforded due process throughout. And again, when the final report came to me, I was comfortable that the findings were substantiated and I was able to act on that information.”
Schulman emphasized the decision to fire Woodcroft was based soley on the text messages, and that there were no allegations or indications of any actions beyond the texts. When asked about the content of the texts or how Woodcroft knew the student, Schulman declined to provide any more detail citing privacy issues.