Former LIU runner calls for track program investigation, alleges NCAA compliance issues, conflict of interest

A former Long Island University track & field athlete has filed a formal complaint with the university alleging widespread mismanagement within the Division I program, including possible NCAA compliance violations, a conflict of interest involving the athletic director and repeated failures to protect student-athlete welfare.

Keirsten Beirne, who says in her complaint that she spent three years on LIU’s women’s track and field team across the Brooklyn and Post campuses, posted the five-page “Formal Statement of Concern and Request for Investigation” to Instagram this week.

The document names Stormie Charles, LIU’s director of track & field and cross country, as the individual to whom most of the described conduct and decisions are attributed, and asks LIU to formally investigate program leadership, scholarship administration, athlete treatment, staffing, housing and institutional oversight.

Greater Long Island has learned that the formal complaint was also filed with the NCAA and sent to Northeast Conference (NEC) officials. The NCAA has not responded to the statement, the matter is outside the NEC’s jurisdiction, and LIU has not yet responded, a source told Greater Long Island.

“The concerns presented are based on my personal experiences and observations during my three years as a member of LIU’s Division I Women’s Track and Field program,” Beirne, a sprinter and hurdler during her three seasons with the Sharks, wrote in the Instagram post that included the document.

The 2023 Oceanside High School graduate said the statement “was not created as a reaction to my removal from the team, nor is it an act of retaliation,” adding that the underlying concerns “were documented and developed over an extended period” while she was still with the team.

“Investigations into said allegations occurred months ago and a response was sent,” Stormie Charles told Greater Long Island in an email. “Unfortunately, that was not sufficient for the alleging parties and here we are. Our current compliance office is great at what they do and the most egregious of these claims in my opinion would never be allowed.”

The coach added, “I really go above and beyond for all of my athletes.” 

Greater Long Island reached out to Long Island University but has not yet received a reply.

Here are the most serious allegations laid out in Beirne’s complaint:

Alleged conflict of interest involving the athletic director: The complaint states that LIU’s athletic director Elliott Charles is married to Stormie Charles, and alleges that university policy bars supervisory or decision-making relationships between family members, particularly involving compensation, promotion or employment conditions.

“This creates at minimum the appearance of a conflict of interest and potentially a direct violation of institutional policy,” the complaint states, adding that the issue “has been raised previously without resolution.”

Possible NCAA compliance and scholarship issues: The document alleges athletes were “treated differently, sidelined, or effectively pushed out” after sustaining injuries, and says some athletes only learned their athletic aid had been reduced after seeing a revised amount on their student account, without prior notice or a documented meeting. The complaint also alleges scholarship details of individual athletes were discussed with other teammates.

Unsupervised travel and use of program resources: Athletes were “reportedly sent to the airport in small groups using rideshare services without coaches or other university personnel accompanying them,” then required to use rideshares again after landing to reach the team hotel, according to the complaint. It also alleges Stormie Charles brought family members on official travel trips, raising questions about whether program funds were used, “directly or indirectly, in connection with family travel.”

It also alleges meal money was repeatedly distributed late, that substitute meal arrangements after per diem was eliminated as a school policy were inequitable between the Brooklyn and Post campuses, and that Stormie Charles removed athlete access to both men’s and women’s locker rooms at the Brooklyn campus, leaving commuting athletes without shower facilities after practice.

Administrative and oversight failures: The statement alleges athletes were repeatedly told they had been entered into meets only to later discover they were left off official entry lists or heat sheets, and says coaching presence was inconsistent, with Charles allegedly absent from practice two to three times a week during the 2024-2025 season.

Comments about a deceased coach: The complaint alleges that during a 2024-2025 team meeting, held within roughly a year of the death of former coach Simon Hodnett, Stormie Charles told athletes they needed to “move on” and “forget” about him. Hodnett is described in the complaint as a foundational figure in the program for whom track athletes were referred to as “Simon’s kids” well after his passing.

The complaint states throughout that it reflects patterns “repeatedly observed or reported by student-athletes” and “does not purport to make final factual findings.” It also characterizes assistant coach Kervin Morgan as “a reliable source of support, structure, professionalism, and genuine assistance for student-athletes.”

LIU self-reported the violations and said they stemmed largely from staffing gaps following the 2019-20 merger of its Brooklyn and Post athletic departments.

In April, LIU golfer Clarice Bell sued the university, alleging officials unlawfully stripped her of a $46,000-a-year scholarship after a rib injury sidelined her, and that her coach gave shifting and, she says, false justifications for the decision. Athletic Director Elliott Charles defended the university’s handling of the matter in the litigation. (Read Greater Long Island’s coverage.)

The track & field complaint also echoes concerns raised in July 2024, when a group of current and former LIU gymnasts — some named, others anonymous — released a lengthy joint statement describing what they characterized as emotional and mental abuse by coaching staff, retaliation against athletes who raised concerns, scholarship threats, and a divisive, fear-driven team culture.

And in 2023, members of LIU’s softball team sued the university under Title IX after officials moved to relocate the team from its Brooklyn campus to the Post campus, alleging the shift amounted to retaliation for raising concerns about unequal treatment of women’s sports; LIU ultimately agreed to keep the team in Brooklyn for two more years.

LIU President Kimberly Cline, who oversees the university’s compliance structure, was appointed in June to a commissioner post with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the regional body that accredits LIU and evaluates institutions on standards including institutional integrity.

_{Top: (inset photo) Kiersten Beirne (Instagram/@kiersten.beirne) and (main photo) LIU entrance (Google Maps Street View).}

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