Students say Michigan AD shoved them at stadium

By LARRY LAGE
AP Sports Writer

ANN ARBOR, Mich.(AP) — Michigan athletic director Bill Martin
pushed a student and grabbed the wind breaker of another student
during two football games, according to a department of public
safety report.

Michigan student Jackie Turner says she told Martin he needed a
pass to enter the regents guest area of the press box Sept. 12
during a game against Notre Dame. She said he pushed her
shoulder and walked past her.

“Honey, I am the athletic director,” Turner quoted him as
saying, according to a university report on the incident.

On Oct. 17, Eastern Michigan student Arif Khan said he told
Martin and a female companion they needed passes to enter the
area after a game against Delaware State. Khan said Martin
grabbed his jacket.

“I am the athletic director, I can go in,” Khan quoted Martin as
telling him.

Turner and Khan were interviewed on Oct. 18, three days before
Martin announced he would retire in September.

The students said they were uninjured and did not want to press
charges.

“I contacted those involved to discuss the situation and express
my regret,” Martin said in a statement released by the school
Monday night. “I know they were just doing their jobs.”

Martin, who became Michigan’s athletic director in 2000 on an
interim basis, announced his retirement in a letter to
university president Mary Sue Coleman.

“Being the Michigan AD is not just a job, it’s a way of life and
one I have embraced full force,” Martin wrote in the letter made
public Oct. 21.

Coleman has said Martin will remain as AD until a successor is
chosen and then he will remain a special adviser to her until
retiring.

Domino’s Pizza Inc. CEO David Brandon, a former Michigan
football player and regent at the school, is among the
candidates to succeed Martin.