As a student-athlete, Hermann was an All-Big Eight volleyball player at the University of Nebraska from 1981 to 1984 when they won four conference championships, four tournament championships, appeared in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments and earned a pair of top five finishes.
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Upon the announcement of her appointment as Rutgers athletic director, she received media attention for her involvement in past controversies. In 1997, Hermann was also involved in a discrimination lawsuit against the University of Tennessee in which the university's former assistant volleyball coach, Ginger Hineline, claimed Hermann discouraged her from becoming pregnant. Hineline was awarded $150,000. When confronted about controversial comments made on a wedding video, Hermann denied the existence of such a video, but soon a wedding video emerged in which Hermann joked about not wanting to have a baby in the office.[4] Players on the University of Tennessee volleyball team also accused her of abusive coaching tactics. The players had written a letter in 1996 that resulted in Hermann's resignation.[5]
On November 29, 2015, she was ousted from her job as athletic director for Rutgers University.[6]
Personal
Hermann has served on many community boards, including Frazier Rehab Institute, Metro Parks, Women 4 Women, YMCA, the Louisville Sports Commission, the Kentucky Sports Commission, the Commission on the Status of Women and the Center for Women and Families.[7] She has served on the AVCA Hall of Fame selection committee and was the chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee. She currently serves as president of the National Association of Collegiate Women's Administrators.[8]
Hermann and her partner, Leslie Danehy, have one son.[9]