BishopAccountability.org

Clear up Wju Charges Swiftly

The Intelligencer
April 17, 2012

http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/568737/Clear-Up-WJU-Charges-Swiftly.html?nav=511

The sooner a federal investigator's allegations involving Wheeling Jesuit University can be resolved, the better. The institution has accomplished too much good and is too important to languish under the current cloud of very serious accusations.

As we have reported, the NASA Office of Inspector General has made a variety of allegations involving alleged misuse of federal funds at the university, from 2005 through 2011. Documents in the case appear to focus nearly all the complaints against J. Davitt McAteer, who is chief executive officer of the Center for Educational Technologies and the National Technology Transfer Center at WJU. McAteer, a nationally known expert on mine safety, served as director of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration for a time.

No formal charges have been filed against anyone at WJU, including McAteer.

Still, documents including those filed to obtain a search warrant for documents in McAteer's possession leave no doubt of the seriousness of the federal agency's accusations. Clearly, if taxpayers' money was misused as the NASA Office of Inspector General maintains, the federal government is obligated to take serious action, possibly involving criminal prosecution, in the situation.

At this point, too little is known - and nothing has been proven - to draw conclusions from the allegations. Again, however, they place a cloud over WJU that needs to be removed as soon as possible. The institution has done too much good - and will accomplish much more in the future - for any stain on its reputation to be allowed to linger longer than necessary.




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