In February 2025, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., D.D., Archbishop of Newark, authorized a comprehensive third-party review, conducted by Ropes & Gray, to assess what the prior Seton Hall University investigations revealed about my knowledge of and response to allegations of misconduct involving others, and whether and how any relevant information was communicated to appropriate personnel at the University and the Archdiocese. This review was prompted by a media outlet’s report concerning actions I took in response to a sexual harassment complaint while I was Rector/Dean of Immaculate Conception Seminary in 2012.
As detailed in the Ropes & Gray report, shortly after I became Rector/Dean in 2012, a seminarian came to me and conveyed an incident in which he felt he had been the victim of inappropriate behavior by another seminarian. After consulting with Seminary faculty, I investigated the incident and found the claim credible. I dismissed the offending seminarian from the Seminary soon after the victim’s complaint and reported the incident and the disciplinary action to the Archdiocese.
There is never any place in the Church, in this University, or anywhere else for harassment or abuse. At the time, I believed I had handled this in the right way. In the years after the incident, Seton Hall instituted updated and consistent communication, training and guidance specific to the Seminaries and the University in responding to complaints and allegations. While I addressed the matter appropriately in promptly dismissing the seminarian and reporting the incident to the Archdiocese, I should have also communicated that incident to the University’s Title IX office.
I am comforted the Ropes & Gray report affirmed what I have known to be true all along: While I now understand there was an additional reporting process to follow, I never hesitated in acting to address this behavior, which was not reflective of the values of the Catholic Church or Seton Hall.
Since 2012, the University has implemented an annual University-wide Title IX mandatory training program to remind our faculty, employees and students of their reporting obligations in accordance with our policies.
I strongly encourage all members of our community to visit and familiarize themselves with the University’s Sexual Violence and Misconduct Information and Resources as well as our Guidelines for Responding to Complaints of Sexual Misconduct, Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation.
On behalf of myself and the Seton Hall University community, I thank Cardinal Tobin for commissioning this review, as well as the Ropes & Gray team for their tireless efforts in conducting it.
Truly, God has shaped my life through my time at Seton Hall. It is as dear to me as any place on Earth.
I am fully committed to seeing our community thrive and continue to progress as one of the nation’s leading Catholic universities. And I will continue to enlist my faith, my education and my experiences to do what is right to further foster a safe and nurturing environment in which all Setonians can flourish.
