Daniel Wheeler, a founding member of the Society of Queens College, where membership requires a minimum of $1 million donated over a lifetime, said he was upset the school ignored the persistent pleas of prominent donors to keep Pernetti.

"Everybody who supports Rutgers Athletics in a big way -- with the exception of one person I spoke to -- made it clear they wanted Pernetti to stay," said Wheeler, also a member of the school's Board of Overseers, which governs Rutgers' fundraising arm. "I won't say numbers, but I've given over seven figures, and like a lot of people who have done the same I support Tim Pernetti. We all stood up for Tim and the school ignored us."

"How can I write Rutgers another check? I have a big one due in June. How can I write that when they completely ignored us?"

Tom Mendiburu, the co-founder of High Point Solutions, said he wanted to review his options before making a decision. High Point Solutions is approaching the third year of a 10-year, $6 million naming rights contract for the school's football stadium.

Mendiburu said there is an opt-out clause in the contract "for situations like this."

"I'm not sure what we're going to do, because our relationship was with Tim Pernetti," he said. "That's the reason we signed this deal. We'll have to look at things and decide. But it's very disappointing to see this happen to Tim Pernetti."