Mariko Hayashi, chairperson of the scandal-hit Nihon University, said Monday that she intends to remain in her position and follow through with reforms, despite calls for her to step down and the planned resignations of two other executives.

“I am still in the middle of implementing reforms, so I need to achieve that — I would like people to understand my strong intent,” she said in her first appearance in front of the media since August.

Vice President Yasuhiro Sawada and President Takeo Sakai have decided to resign to take responsibility for a drug scandal involving Nihon University’s American football team, which precipitated the institution’s current crisis, while Hayashi will receive a 50% pay cut for six months.

The university has said it plans to disband the team — triggering a mixed reaction — once the board and president formally approves the move. On Monday, however, Hayashi remained vague about the fate of the team, saying the university will continue to deliberate and that she “cannot say yet” whether the disbandment might not go ahead. Over 28,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the university to cancel the plan.

A report filed by the university to the education ministry last week found that Hayashi’s responsibility was “not light,” but that Sawada’s was “extremely grave” for many reasons, including because he did not report alleged drug use by the students and kept what appeared to be fragments of marijuana to himself for 12 days. The report found the responsibility of Sakai to be “grave.”

Sawada will resign at the end of the year, while Sakai will step down in March.

What initially started with the arrest of a player on Nihon University’s American football team in August on drug charges has shifted to allegations of widespread drug use within the team, criticisms of poor governance at the college due to its response, an internal power struggle over who is to blame, and a debate over whether disbanding the team was the best reaction.

In the report submitted to the education ministry, the university said that the competitive sports club, the department in charge of student athletes that the American football team falls under, had decided to bring an end to the 83-year history of the once-lauded football team, known as “Phoenix.”

Toshiyuki Mashiko, professor of sports medicine and head of an internal faculty team that investigated the drug scandal, said that the department’s decision was made because the drug use was a collective and habitual crime within the team, and so the university could not ensure the safety of the students in the club.

“It was a heartbreaking decision, but we have concluded that we must change our old culture and establish new sports clubs for Nihon University,” Mashiko said.

Hayashi announced Monday that they are considering getting rid of the competitive sports club and newly establishing a Nihon University competitive sports center in order to reconsider how school management interacts with the university’s sports teams.

The university failed to offer any specific information regarding the plan.

The Nihon University report submitted to the education ministry and released on Thursday expressed the school’s determination to improve its governance by breaking away from an outdated ideology of resolving issues internally without making the details public.

The report was put together in response to the findings in October by a third-party committee, which pointed out poor governance within the university and how its officials downplayed the rampant drug use within the American football team.

The scandal began in August when the American football player was arrested for possessing illegal stimulants in his dormitory following a raid by the school.

Three more players have since been arrested or had their case sent to prosecutors for allegedly possessing or purchasing marijuana.

Scrutiny has focused on how many university officials — including Sawada and the team coach — failed to report the drug use to the university’s board despite having been aware of it as early as October of last year.

The first player arrested in August said in court on Friday that he was told by team manager Toshihide Nakamura that “he was glad it was found by Sawada,” which reassured him, believing that it would most likely be covered up, TBS reported.

Nakamura has been criticized for not yet publicly addressing the scandal. The message he reportedly sent out to the team announcing the disbandment has also raised eyebrows due to its sudden nature.