Former Girls’ Basketball Coach Fights for Position
By
Danai Leininger and Andy Slater
Two years after a team mutiny, the girls’ basketball program remains embroiled in controversy.
The school elected not to renew the contract of long time coach and former dean of students James Thomas, although the exact circumstances of the termination remain shrouded in mystery. Each side tells a distinctly different side of the story, though only Thomas agreed to speak on the record at length. Principal Paul Cheng declined to speak on any “personnel matters.”
According to Thomas, his release amounted to a firing, but the administration maintains that his contract was simply not renewed.
“It’s strange to me that my contract was not renewed,” Thomas said. “It’s not a typical situation when the principal fires the coach because it’s usually the players or parents behind it. In this case, all the players and parents – except one set of parents – were behind me.”
Athletic director John Donahue said, “The principal does the hiring and firing. Retired teachers are walk-on coaches, so they’re not protected by the union.”
Thomas said that the controversy began last January, when players found an e-mail with topless women brandishing shotguns in his bag. He called the e-mail a “joke” that a colleague handed to him, although he admits that he was stupid to put it in his bag where players could see it.
“If Mr. Cheng wanted to fire me for being stupid, then I wouldn’t fight it – I messed up,” Thomas said. “Instead, he called me into his office two or three weeks later wanting me to resign, without even investigating the incident. Basically, he wanted to avoid any confrontation.”
According to Thomas, Cheng told some of the girls that he had retired, and then changed his mind when it was too late. “I was thinking of retiring at the end of the year,” Thomas said, “but my retirement had nothing to do with this.”
Thomas decided not to retire because he wanted to dispel rumors that he was being fired for the e-mail incident.
Many parents and players vehemently defended Thomas, writing several open letters to superintendent Arlene Ackerman. A letter signed by 15 of Thomas’ players attributes the team’s success in the past years to Thomas.
“Without (Thomas’) leadership, many of us would not be the type of players we are today,” the letter stated. “His efforts have been greatly appreciated by the team as he has done…everything he could do to make our basketball experiences great.”
His disputed release has not been the only controversy in Thomas’ coaching career. Two years ago half of the team quit over disputes concerning the division of playing time.
Known for his aggressive coaching style, Thomas has been accused of sending players home in tears and causing many to quit the sport, according to players who wished to remain anonymous. Thomas concedes that he is a tough coach, but maintains that he has never pushed a player beyond her bounds.
It is hard to dispute Thomas’s side of the story because players said they were reluctant to speak to the paper, out of fear that if Thomas returned, sources speculate, he would punish them.
“No one wants to talk,” an unidentified basketball player revealed about the girls’ sealed lips.
With most of his team behind him, at least publicly, and two decades of service under his belt as a dean of students, Thomas feels that there is more to the story than meets the eye.
In an open letter dated Sept. 24, 2003, Thomas suggests that prejudice played a factor in his exit.
“I am the victim of harassment, discrimination and wrongful termination based on my race and my age,” Thomas said. “There is a possibility that gender is also a factor in this discrimination.”
Thomas went on to suggest that two parents may have influenced Cheng’s decision. “I was told by Mr. Cheng that I should resign because these parents did not like me and they were going to ‘stay after me,’” he said. “Mr. Cheng has condoned, by his lack of action, this aforementioned parent. The same father…has been allowed to carry on a character assassination of me during home and away games.”
Thomas added in an interview that he was the only coach
involuntarily removed from
“If someone on campus wanted the job, then I would say that’s fine because I think it’s better to have an on-campus coach,” he said. “No one on campus wanted the job, and I continued to work with the team, but on July 13, I heard that they had found another coach, but she was not on campus.”
A source close to Thomas said one family displeased with their child’s lack of playing time saw the dirty e-mail as an opportunity to oust him.
“An unknown parent had an axe to grind with coach Thomas,” the source said in a telephone interview. “This parent probably felt that his child was not getting enough playing time, brought it up to Mr. Cheng to get rid of Mr. Thomas.”
Thomas remains hopeful of coaching again and has been in
contact with the human resources complaint division of the
“It’s not about money, it’s about clearing my name and reputation,” Thomas said. “The way that I can do that is coach the team again, and then I can walk away from it after that.”
November 2003
The