Apr 07, 2014 02:46 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Perhaps adding insult to injury for a prominent newspaper scaling back in a struggling industry, Julie Hermann, the athletic director at Rutgers University said she would not mind seeing the New Jersey Star-Ledger completely go under.

The Ledger reported having to lay off 167 people last week, hardly an unbelievable thing in the currently dismal economic climate for print media anywhere in the country. Speaking to a group of journalism students, Hermann said the prospect of the newspaper printing its last issue was "great."

"If they're not writing headlines that are getting our attention, they're not selling ads - and they die," Hermann said in front of the Rutgers class on Media Ethics and Law. "And the Ledger almost died in June, right?"

After a student suggested the Ledger "might die next month," Hermann said, "That would be great... I'm going to do all I can to not give them a headline to keep them alive."

She was apparently successful. Her comment grabbed headlines on the websites of newspaper and television news stations alike, such as the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle, NBC New York and many more.

A student sitting in on the discussion provided the Ledger with a recording and published her own piece on the matter first on Muckgers.com.

"Her comments were in response to a broad array of student questions on a number of different subjects and were reflective of her own personal experiences," read a statement from the school, obtained by the Ledger. "She had no knowledge of the impending reorganization of the Star-Ledger and drastic changes that the newspaper would announce several weeks later, in April."

The statement also described the comments as "informal" and did not offer an explanation or an apology.

Some Ledger readers were sympathetic to Hermann and criticized the newspaper for their coverage of her hiring. She took over at a time when Rutgers' men's basketball coach Mike Rice was fired for verbally and physically abusing players during practice. The previous athletic director also knew about it and did nothing, leading to his termination too. When Hermann was hired, several media outlets, the Ledger included, reported on rumors that she too had been an abusive coach in her past.

"I'm no fan of the AD or the circumstances that resulted in her arrival in NJ, but I understand her sentiment about being unfairly portrayed by the media," wrote an online user named FormerNJDem. "I don't want anyone to lose their jobs, but it would be nice if the SL and its EB tried to be a little more fair in presenting the reasonable positions of the other side."

Others were defensive of the newspaper and criticized Hermann for taking an unwarranted jab at a publication that did what it was supposed to do.

"She takes a high profile position at RU, already steeped in controversy and has the nerve to 'whine' about the press she is getting?" wrote NJ Native. "She needs to stop complaining, stop whining to students or whoever she was talking to and start doing her job. She is a high paid professional adult talking like a child. It seems to be a pattern with her... If there were anything GOOD to ever print about her she would LOVE the Star Ledger!"

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