Director of Athletics Michael Muska submitted a letter of resignation this week, effective June 30, bringing his four-year career at Oberlin College to a close.

Meanwhile, the College sought to quell rumors that Muska was pressured to resign as a result of the recent scandal on the basketball team, in which an ineligible player was discovered and the team was forced to forfeit the season. Administrators confirmed that an investigation is underway, but stressed that Muska is not being personally investigated.
“He has done a great job,” Vice President for College Relations Alan Moran said, adding that Muska had “revitalized” the football program and was “instrumental” in bringing men’s and women’s golf and women’s softball to Oberlin.
Muska said he has accepted a position at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, New York, working as director of college counseling and as an assistant to the headmaster. He held a similar position at Milton and Phillips Andover in Massachusetts prior to accepting the post at Oberlin.
Upset by the rumors, Muska adamantly denied that he was forced to resign. “I’ve always wanted to live in New York, and this job gives me the financial means to do it,” he said. “I miss the greater interaction with students you don’t have as an administrator.”
“Everything about my departure has been amicable and I’m looking forward to sending students here in the years ahead,” he said.
He has enjoyed traveling as an admissions associate while at Oberlin and has been eyeing college counseling positions for some time, he added.
Muska, the first openly gay male athletic director at the college level in the country, presided over the creation of three varsity sports and a burgeoning football squad.
During his tenure at Oberlin, Muska has sought to vet homophobia in sports and endeavored to create a safe climate for gay athletes. He recently gave a talk on homophobia in sports at an NCAA convention, and has spoke at various high schools and colleges about his experiences.
Concurrently, he is working on a video that explores homophobia in sports. One of four project managers, the project is underwritten by a grant from the Women’s Sport Foundation, along with a generous contribution from tennis star Martina Navratalova. The video will be distributed free to colleges and high schools across the country.
As well as becoming a college counselor, Muska said he will also be coaching cross country and track while advising the Gay/Straight Alliance.
Asked how his experience at Oberlin would shape his future work, Muska remarked that he had now worked on the admissions and sports side both at high schools and colleges, and that this would help him advise high school students on their college prospects.
“I’ve been on both sides of the table,” he said.
David Harman. Poly Prep is among an elite cadre of eight private high schools in the New York area that are known as an “ivy league” of college preparatory schools.