California State University in Bakersfield has formed a “President’s Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics,” as the university has been embroiled in controversy over criminal charges brought against some of its athletic coaches and staff.
As reported by public radio station KVPR in Fresno, university president Vernon B. Harper announced the commission in an email to the campus community Thursday.
“The commission will examine matters of culture and leadership, the experience and success of our scholar-athletes, and the ever-shifting landscape of intercollegiate athletics that every university in this country is navigating,” Harper wrote.
Several key staff left the department recently, including athletic director Kyle Conder in September.
Whether the university formed this commission as a direct consequence of these situations is unclear. KVPR made multiple requests for comment from CSUB officials, but did not receive a response.
"The fallout from the stunning arrest of Cal State Bakersfield assistant men’s basketball coach Kevin Mays earlier this month has reached the school’s softball program, where a head coach currently on paid leave and her husband, a former assistant, believe they were made scapegoats as a cover-up for Mays’ wrongdoing, including an alleged relationship with a former softball player, Violet Salazar," Maren Angus-Coombs wrote Thursday for Sports Illustrated.
"It has been six months since the coaches were suspended, and now parents and former teammates of Salazar are starting to speak out and voice their support for the softball coaches."
In a viral TikTok video March 11, Salazar, a senior on the 2025 team, accused then assistant coach James Davenport of sexual assault, claiming he grabbed her body after showering, leaving a bruise, SI reported. She claimed that the incident allegedly occurred in an empty locker room while her teammates were on the bus.
Davenport is the husband of head coach Letty Olivarez.
On Sept. 8, Mays was arrested and faced 11 criminal charges, including felony charges related to pimping and pandering, the possession of illegal firearms, including that of an assault weapon, and the possession of methamphetamine and marijuana for purposes of sale, according to SI.
Per KVPR reporting, the men’s basketball team’s head coach, Rod Barnes, also resigned shortly after the news broke about Mays, according to local news coverage. The director of swimming and diving, Chris Hansen, also abruptly retired in June, according to the university.
Harper announced the athletics commission will be led by a businesswoman Shelly Carlin and a not yet named faculty member.
Harper formed the commission in a matter of a week, according to emails obtained by KVPR. One email sent Sept. 25 called for tenured faculty members to apply for the committee.
“The President’s Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (The Commission) is formed to review the current direction of CSU Bakersfield’s Division I athletics program and advise both the President and the AVP and Director of Athletics in response to concerns about department culture and the changing landscape of intercollegiate athletics,” Harper wrote, as reported by KVPR's Rachel Livinal.
Harper said the commission will review information and conduct interviews related to “relevant privacy, employment and confidentiality laws.” The committee will also review administration and oversight structure, legal framework such as Title IV requirements and other initiatives related to student-athletes.
