Former VCU athletic director resigns from Minnesota amidst scandal

Former VCU athletic director Norwood Teague will seek alcohol counseling after recent revelations about his professional conduct have caused him a whirlwind of trouble, according to the University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler.

Teague was the athletic director for the 2011 VCU men’s basketball team which made it to the Final Four. His success as the athletic director for the university’s historic team has vanished with the recent news that Teague was the defendant in multiple sexual harassment lawsuits. Teague has paid more than $300,000 in settlements due to those allegations.

After leaving VCU to become the athletic director at the University of Minnesota in 2012, Teague remained at the helm until August 7 of this year, when he resigned when the scandal became public.

At Minnesota, two women spoke out about Teague’s inappropriate behavior toward them and displayed the sexual text messages they had received from him. The two women, Ann Aronson and Erin Dady, worked under Teague on the Eric Kaler senior leadership team.

Aronson and Dady initially wanted to remain anonymous, but did not want Teague’s actions towards them to be repeated against other female employees. They released a written statement urging women not to tolerate sexual harassment in the workplace.

“It’s a problem that continues to plague our institutions and our working lives despite programs and training designed to suppress it,” they said. “We felt compelled to report Teague’s behavior because it was frightening and wrong. We believed there would be others and we felt a duty to help protect them.” 

Alcohol was the driving force behind the risqué text messages sent to Aronson and Dady. Eric Kaler mentioned in his official statement that Teague did not display a drinking problem or any other red flags to lead him to question his professionalism.

“He was out raising money,” Kaler said. “He was out recruiting coaches, and I didn’t see, nor did people tell me, about issues that might have preceded this.”

Teague was involved in a similar discrepancy at VCU in 2012 with the Rams women’s basketball coach Beth Cunningham. She said shu felt her Title IX rights were violated by Teague. Norwood took the job at Minnesota in April 2012 and $125,000 was paid to Cunningham in July 2012. 

Minnesota did not receive news of the VCU settlement until December 2012 after Teague was already hired.

Sports Editor, Bryant Drayton

Bryant is a sports advocate thats always smiling. He is a senior print and online journalism major aspiring for a career as a professional or college football columnist. Bryant currently covers high school football games for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. // Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

draytonbo@commonwealthtimes.org