The athletic director at Rutgers University said it'd be "great" if the Star-Ledger went out of business, NBC News reported.
The comments made by Julie Hermann were uploaded to Muckgers.com and later published by columnist Steve Politi at the New Jersey newspaper shortly after.
"If they're not writing headlines that are getting our attention, they're not selling ads - and they die," Hermann told the Media Ethics and Law class. "And the Ledger almost died in June, right?"
"They might die again next month," a student responded.
"That would be great," Hermann replied. "I'm going to do all I can to not give them a headline to keep them alive."
While Hermann's remarks received some backlash, the university claims her comment -- made in February to the class -- was made before she knew about the layoffs that were announced last week.
Rutgers released a statement that said Hermann "intended to give the students some understanding of the challenges she has faced" and did not expect them to become public.
However, Politi and other employees -- and former employees -- are still not happy with Hermann's comments.
"Forget, for a minute, what you think about the newspaper. It doesn't matter if you think its Rutgers' coverage stinks, or its news coverage is biased, or if its columnists are too smug for their own good," Politi said.
"What matters is this: The Star-Ledger employs a lot of people. And if the Rutgers athletic director thinks it would be great if it closed down, then she relishes the idea of seeing those people lose their livelihood, their benefits and maybe more."
Hermann and the paper have a rocky relationship. In May, the outlet reported she was emotionally and verbally abusive to volleyball players she coached at Tennessee in 1996.
