Report: Northern Kentucky athletic director Scott Eaton fired for affairs

The athletic director at Northern Kentucky University was fired in mid-March because of "inappropriate, intimate" relationships with four women, plus one student, school president Geoffrey Mearns announced on Friday, according to Cincinnati TV station WLWT.

AD Scott Eaton admitted to the relationships, Mearns said.

All four women were university employees, though three no longer work for the school, and Eaton supervised two of them. The student was a member of a class that Eaton taught and no longer attends the school.

The university heard rumors of possible misconduct on March 8 and hired a law firm to investigate it four days later. Eaton was fired on March 18 for a violation of the university's Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct.

The Highland Heights, Kent., school -- located seven miles from Cincinnati -- is part of the Atlantic Sun Conference and is in the process of becoming a full Division I member.

From the WLWT.com report:

"That type of conduct cannot be tolerated," Mearns said in a news conference. “This was a disappointment. There's no doubt about it but this is a strong institution with a lot of strong people and that's what has enabled us to move very promptly to conduct this investigation and has given me the support to take this decisive action because I’m confident that we will continue to be able to move forward,” Mearns said.

Mearns said the violations were uncovered in an independent investigation conducted by outside counsel at Dinsmore and Shohl.