CALIFORNIA
Loyolan
Posted: Monday, September 17, 2012
by Editorial Board
Transparency. It’s a common theme in Loyolan board editorials about the University’s actions. But the current Loyolan staff has never been more serious in its call for transparency than now.
News broke last Tuesday, Sept. 11, that Brother William Farrington, S.J. – who worked at LMU for 15 years, from 1987 to 2002 – has been accused of sexually molesting a former student at San Jose’s Bellarmine College Preparatory and of “improprieties” involving two former students at Jesuit High School near Sacramento – both schools that Farrington worked at prior to arriving at LMU (See “Jesuit accused of sexual molestation spent 15 years working at LMU,” Page 1). Although no lawsuit has been or is currently filed against Farrington, both Bellarmine Prep and Jesuit High’s presidents have called the accusations “credible.”
Both schools made sure to inform hundreds of alumni who attended during Farrington’s tenure, urging anyone who may have been abused by Farrington to come forward. Both presidents wrote letters about the situation, apologizing for the potential harm done. Spokesman for Jesuit High School Jordan Blair is quoted in the Sept. 12 Sacramento Bee article “Ex-Jesuit High teacher accused of inappropriate conduct with student” as saying, “We are acting with full transparency. … We wanted to make sure this information was out there.”
When the Loyolan asked LMU’s Vice President for Communications and Government Relations Kathleen Flanagan whether the University would follow suit, she said, “As far as I know, there was nothing that happened at LMU, so there would be no reason to do it.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.