Selmon confirmed the Genshaft-Griffin colloquy, too. Selmon did hedge about whether the pair sought to deflect criticism from the Tampa Bay area's African-American community, in particular. "It was a media response," he testified. "Not a public relations (response) to community this and community that."
If Genshaft disapproved of Selmon's forthright testimony, she is swift enough to realize there is no upside to tangling publicly with her new athletic director. Selmon is that rarity — a retired Tampa Bay Buccaneer in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Revered locally, Selmon has a restaurant and an expressway named after him in Tampa.
Green doesn't live in Selmon's bubble. But he has deeper ties to USF, where he has spent most of his adult life. That made it all the more painful to be the reluctant whistleblower.
In his affidavit last November, Green stated: "I am heartbroken that I have had to come forward because, although I had hoped for years that the system would work, it is now plain to me that the only way to correct USF is for outside forces to require USF to stop the coverup, make amends to the victims (including myself), and adopt policies and procedures (which it has not yet done) so that this cannot happen again." Green regretted "respecting my superiors and reporting (the racial incidents on the women's team) to them" because the Genshaft administration "deliberately has done nothing and is now attacking the girls and myself both publicly and privately."
Camile Blake, USF's equal-opportunity affairs coordinator, testified last October that Green never filed an official complaint with her office. Green did submit a written report in 1999. Under USF policy at the time, however, Blake said that Green's report alone would not have triggered a formal investigation.
Gonzalez, attempting to discredit Green at depositions, has asked why the witness reported racist conduct but not allegations that Winters harassed a player who was a lesbian. Green said Griffin asked him only to look at the racial climate on Winters' team.
What does Genshaft have to say about her Aug. 16, 2000, meeting with Green and the Feb. 28, 2001, meeting with Selmon?
At a deposition, Genshaft emphasized Green's apprehension about losing USF employment rather than his concern about Griffin's stonewalling.
"Hiram came in with a primary complaint and issue of his job," Genshaft testified. "That's why he came to see me, his job."
Green recalled the chat differently than the USF president.
"First, I talked to her about the complaints about racial discrimination in the program," Green told Gonzalez. "At the very end of that conversation, I shared with her that I thought that I had lost my job because of my investigation into this matter."
Genshaft acknowledged that Green did bring a "pile of papers with him about racial insensitivity." But Genshaft told Green that he need not leave the records with her because she believed him. "People come to my office bringing many, many different pieces of material," she told Alpert.
After hearing from Green, Genshaft said she called Griffin. "Paul Griffin said that he had taken care of the racial insensitivity because he had taken action, and that was by sending Jerry Ann (Winters) to racial insensitivity seminars."
Genshaft said she did not make any further inquiries with Blake's office. "I did not get involved in their procedures," she said.
Regarding Feb. 28, Genshaft could offer only a vague memory. "Olga came into the room," said Genshaft, "I don't remember the exact words, but that Hiram is having some difficulties or he's having some problems and he's — he's speaking to the press."
Alpert pressed on. "So if there were testimony from others that Ms. Joanow said, "we've got a problem. Hiram's talking,' you would not be able to dispute that, isn't that correct?" he asked.
"No, I wouldn't be able to dispute that."
Alpert wasn't satisfied. "And the fact is, ma'am, that everybody who has come forward about the racial allegations you've described as having problems or personal problems, isn't that correct?"
"I've never said personal problems," replied Genshaft. "If they were having issues, they were having problems."
Gonzalez said he finds it curious that Alpert has beat up on Genshaft, almost to the exclusion of her predecessor, Betty Castor, who was USF president when a number of the incidents cited in the lawsuits took place.
The implication is that Alpert, who ran without success as a Democrat for Hillsborough state attorney in 2000, prefers besmirching the reputation of Republican appointee Genshaft to sullying the name of Democrat Castor.
After Green went public, Genshaft said she lost faith in Paul Griffin's judgment as athletic director. Yet she rejected any suggestion that Green's revelations influenced her demand for Griffin's resignation.