In a statement provided to media Sunday, now former Utah State University deputy athletic director Jerry Bovee made clear his intention “to file a grievance pursuant to USU policy,” following his termination by Utah State.
Bovee, along with USU football head coach Blake Anderson and now former USU football director of player development and community engagement Austin Albrecht were fired — or in the case of Anderson notified of the university’s intent to terminate — last Thursday, following an external review of alleged noncompliance with university policies that implement Title IX law.
Utah State alleges that Bovee and Albrecht both violated university policies “related to the reporting of sexual and domestic violence and failures of professional responsibilities,” while Anderson, “violated both his employment agreement and university policy,” specific to an incident involving a USU football player which occurred in the spring of 2023.
In his statement, Bovee says that he was, “blind-sighted” by Utah State’s decision to terminate his employment, “based on an inconclusive and untimely review of an incident that took place more than a year ago in April of 2023,” while Bovee was serving as the interim athletic director for Utah State athletics, following the unexpected retirement of former USU AD John Hartwell.
Bovee says that he “and two other USU employees did in fact report the incident to the USU Office of Equity,” and that the external review of the event did not begin until the fall of 2023. It then took eight months for Utah State to terminate Bovee’s emplyoment, “without opportunity to respond to the results of the review.”
Bovee “is vigrously defending his reputation as a Aggies alum and stellar associate vice president and deputy athletics director,” the statement reads, citing Bovee’s work in college athletics for decades, including time spent at both Utah State and Weber State. “In his tenured career, he has never incurred disciplinary action or accusations of misconduct of any kind.”
Bovee will not provide any further comment for the time being, “because this is a fluid situation,” and the USU alumnus says that “he has no ill will against USU, an institution he loves.”
In a combined statement last week, USU president Elizabeth Cantwell and athletic director Diana Sabau said, “As leaders, we are responsible for ensuring allegations of USU policy violations are investigated. Today’s actions are the result of a thorough external investigation, and we believe the evidence demands immediate action.
“Our job is to fearlessly hold ourselves and others accountable for their conduct and to make sure that, for the sake of our students and our community, we are living the values of our university. While recognizing the impact of these decisions on our student-athletes and football program, we will continue to take the steps necessary to deliver a respectful, transparent and winning culture at Utah State University.”