On May 6, when a California State University audit detailed mismanagement within San Diego State's athletic department, university President Stephen Weber said athletic director Rick Bay's job was safe.

On May 22, after reviewing some of an estimated 25,000 pieces of the audit's background material, Weber forced Bay to resign.

But one thing remained constant during those few weeks: Bay disagreed with parts of the process and how senior auditor Mike Redmond conducted his investigation.

"From the very beginning, the audit felt like a kangaroo court that eventually turned into a witch hunt," Bay told The San Diego Union-Tribune late last night. "To this day, I have only seen a few pieces of the background material.

"The university allowed itself to be bullied by the chancellor's office, there is no question about that. (SDSU) was an enthusiastic recipient of every rumor and innuendo to come down the pike, regardless of credibility of those saying it or credibility of the evidence presented.

"If you want a lesson on the absolute worst way to manage a crisis, this was it. This was mishandled by the university from the outset."

Weber, who was unavailable for comment, has steadfastly supported the audit and its findings.

Redmond began his investigation a year ago June when, his report states, "a member of the San Diego community presented the Chancellor's Office (in the form of a letter) certain specific and nonspecific allegations regarding the administration."

SDSU immediately suspended senior associate athletic director Vance Redfern (who retired in December) and equipment manager Steve Bartel (currently serving his second paid suspension) and issued a news release announcing the impending investigation.

At the time, Bay was vacationing in Cuba.

"I was never questioned at all about how to possibly handle the situation," Bay said. "From that point on, (the athletic department) had no chance. Certainly, a more responsible way to handle it would have been for the chancellor's office to quietly inform the university of the allegations and have it look into things.

"But to actually send out a press release and immediately suspend two employees based on a letter that I felt had some serious credibility issues to begin with was beyond anything I could have ever imagined."

Bay says his main problem with the university is it took the position that a CSU audit is, by definition, infallible and that his department was expected to publicly accept all the findings.

He told Weber that wasn't possible.

"(Weber) told me that if I disagreed with the report, the chancellor's office would release new evidence in the background material that could be damaging to me," Bay said. "But I also knew there were charges in that report that were untrue. (Redmond) never interviewed a good cross-section of people in our department. He heard what he wanted to hear.

"We had problems in the equipment room. I have taken responsibility for that, even though I didn't deal with (Bartel) on a regular basis. We needed to fix those things.

"I have no idea how much pressure (from the CSU chancellor's office) he was under to do what he did, but I suspect it was significant. I think (Weber) did things he might not have totally believed in."

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed declined an interview request about the audit earlier this month, instead telling a spokesperson: "It was a good audit, and the campus has taken decisive action because of the audit."