USOC president considers resigning

DENVER - Sandra Baldwin is considering resigning as U.S. Olympic Committee president after she admitted she lied about her academic credentials. <br> <br> ``I always try to be up front with everyone and have been up front with everything in my life except for this,&#39;&#39; Baldwin said through tears. ``I&#39;ve got a lot of people who have told me that I expect too much of myself and sometime maybe I do.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Baldwin said she would discuss her future with committee members Friday during a conference call and a news conference would be called in the next couple of days. <br> <br> Baldwin&#39;s biographical information states she graduated from the University of Colorado in 1962 and received a doctorate from Arizona State in 1967. <br> <br> After abruptly leaving an international Olympic meeting in Malaysia, Baldwin admitted Thursday the information was false. Baldwin said she actually graduated from Arizona State in 1962 after leaving Colorado three years earlier and never completed her dissertation. <br> <br> Baldwin said she did receive a master&#39;s degree from Arizona State, but didn&#39;t finish her dissertation because she had two small children and was left to run the family farm after her parents died. <br> <br> ``I should have changed it a long time ago, but once it was published it got paralyzing,&#39;&#39; Baldwin said. ``Now I&#39;m going to have to live with it for the rest of my life.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Baldwin wouldn&#39;t rule out stepping down as president, which would cost her IOC membership. <br> <br> ``From what I&#39;ve seen in the past, people who do this usually don&#39;t end up keeping the job they have,&#39;&#39; American IOC member Jim Easton said Friday in Malaysia. ``I think that&#39;s the general rule, and I would say it&#39;s going to be tough for her.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Anita DeFrantz, another American IOC member in Malaysia, wanted to know more, but was realistic about the outcome of the executive meeting. <br> <br> ``The information I received created more questions than it answered,&#39;&#39; DeFrantz said. ``During the meeting I hope to have my questions answered. I think the executive committee will take some action.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> IOC vice president Kevan Gosper suggested Baldwin has two options. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m disappointed,&#39;&#39; Gosper said. ``I have concern for her, but she&#39;s a sensible woman and she&#39;ll either see the matter referred to an ethics commission or she&#39;ll take her own decision.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> IOC president Jacques Rogge declined comment. <br> <br> A resignation from Baldwin would be the latest in a string of problems within the USOC hierarchy. <br> <br> In 1991, Robert Helmick resigned as USOC president and from the IOC after he was accused of using those positions for personal gain. He was the first IOC member to resign under pressure. <br> <br> The USOC also is coming off a yearlong search for a CEO after Norm Blake resigned under pressure in October 2000. Lloyd Ward was hired to replace Blake last October. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m trying to do a lot of soul-searching right now to determine what is best for me and what is best for the organization,&#39;&#39; said Baldwin, who became the USOC&#39;s first woman president and chairman of the board when she was elected to replace Bill Hybl in December 2000. <br> <br> ``I care about this organization passionately and would never do anything to damage its reputation.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Baldwin&#39;s admission is the latest in a string of inaccurate biographies among sports figures. <br> <br> The most widely publicized case came in December, when George O&#39;Leary lost the football coaching job at Notre Dame&#39;s after he lied about academic and athletic accomplishments. <br> <br> Former Colorado State women&#39;s basketball coach Tom Collen resigned from Vanderbilt on May 2 after inaccuracies were found on his resume. <br> <br> Baldwin said she left Malaysia after learning that a reporter for Colorado&#39;s Alumni Association was going to publish the inaccuracies in her biography. Baldwin did the interview a few weeks ago, then got a call last week while in China after the reporter discovered the inaccuracies. <br> <br> Baldwin was at the opening of a three-day Olympic assembly Wednesday when she told president Mario Vazquez Rana she needed to leave to attend to ``urgent personal business&#39;&#39; back home. <br> <br> ``I didn&#39;t want to deal with this in that kind of atmosphere,&#39;&#39; Baldwin said. ``I wanted to be able to deal with what&#39;s best for me in a calmer atmosphere.&#39;&#39;

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