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WJU President Fired

By HEATHER ZIEGLER Associate City Editor
POSTED: August 6, 2009

Article Photos


Following closed door meetings this week, the Wheeling Jesuit University Board of Trustees has fired university president the Rev. Julio Giulietti, who has been at the helm since 2007.

According to reliable sources, the WJU Board of Directors had failed to reach a two-thirds majority vote to oust Giulietti, the university's eighth president in its 55-year history. According to sources, the Board of Directors has 17-18 members. Sources added that the two-thirds majority was nearly achieved.

However, in a prepared statement released to the Wheeling News-Register this morning, the Board of Trustees revealed that "on Aug. 5, 2009, the Board of Trustees of Wheeling Jesuit University announced the departure of Dr. Julio Giulietti, S.J., as president."

According to the release, "He (Giulietti) leaves the University to continue pursuit of his ministry, which has focused on spirituality, faith, personal development and international outreach."

An attempt to oust Giulietti this week by the board of directors was thwarted when the board failed to attain a two-thirds majority vote, according to reliable sources. However, the board of trustees, which is comprised of Jesuit clergy, overturned that decision and fired Giulietti. Dr. Donald Hofreuter, a member of the WJU Board of Directors, said he was "sorry to learn of the action of the board of trustees with regard to the termination of Father Julio Giulietti. It has been my privilege to serve the university with him the past 18 months."

"In addition, he is my personal friend, and I am sorry this action was taken."

Giulietti, who is on vacation, was not present for the meetings but learned of the attempt to fire him after the fact. When contacted by telephone today, Giulietti said, "There will be counter legal action filed today in Ohio County."

WJU Board President William Fisher, who works for the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, was unavailable for comment.

Giulietti said he is dismayed at how this action was taken. "I was surprised that the board president pushed for a vote on this before my evaluation was half completed. That was an insult to the rest of the board and the university," Giulietti said. Giulietti came to Wheeling from Boston College where he served at director of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality. He worked primarily with faculty and staff in spirituality and personal development. Giulietti was named president of the university following the death of former WJU president, the Rev. Joseph Hacala.

The Most Rev. Michael J. Bransfield, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, commented on Giulietti's firing, while in Phoenix, Ariz., today, where he is attending the annual national meeting of the Knights of Columbus:

"As the only Catholic college or university in West Virginia, Wheeling Jesuit University has my utmost support during this period of transition," said Bransfield. "I wish nothing but continued success for the University and for the Jesuit Community in Wheeling.

"Although Wheeling Jesuit is not owned or administered by the Diocese, we share our Catholic identity and a common mission of education and service in our Mountain State. I am proud of the accomplishments of this wonderful university. I look forward to its continued advancement."

J. Davitt McAteer has been named acting president until the selection of an interim president.

Member Comments
View Comments: | 1-25 |26-50 |51-66 | Post a comment
NoMoreByrdPork
01-27-10 8:21 PM
Catherine Smith vs. Wheeling Jesuit University Inc. and John Davitt McAteer PA- William A. Kolibash; J- Wilson * Plaintiff was employed for approximately 15 years for defendant, with her last official position being a Manager of Finance for Sponsored Programs. She discovered that federal grant funds were being misused and reported same to her supervisor. This misuse was reported to NASA who found irregularities after an investigation. A hostile work environment is claimed for using an employee complaint "as opportunity to rid itself of a whistle blower." Judgment for all damages is demanded by jury trial. Case number: 09-C-439

NoMoreByrdPork
09-08-09 5:24 PM
Hope you all enjoy this story that appears in Inside Higher Education--think of it as the TIME of education--that looks at the whole mess: WOW. ***********insidehighered****/news/2009/09/08/wheeling

Crinlin
08-18-09 12:00 PM
Worried, I am a recent Alum and employee of WJU. I absolutely LOVED my experience at Jesuit and to be honest, Fr Julio isn't the person that made it a wonderful place for me. Quite frankly, Fr. Julio was not amazing. Case & Point: He's leaving unprofessionally kicking and screaming (also the people he suddenly canned in this exact same manner never did anything like this) There are many others that agree with that, but unfortunately cannot share their opinions due to job security, etc. I know many people at many schools and most of them have problems - especially financially. Speaking from my experience, I would have never chosen another school...I have not only found myself at Wheeling Jesuit, but have also gained the confidence to take on the outside world. It's a very special institution and students have a lot of opportunity there - don't let these events deter you or your child's enthusiasm about their WJU experience. Wheeling Jesuit was the best thing that ever happened to

NoMoreByrdPork
08-17-09 6:36 PM
I don't think people lied to you. It has a lot of perks for the students. But it is a badly managed school that is floundering financially. Quite frankly, I would not send me kid there unless it was the only school he could get into. It offers nothing special that you can't get at most collegesBut that's me.

worried
08-16-09 3:33 PM
My child is starting in two weeks we did visit( a few times ) and all seemmed great. We liked tha fact that it was small. The students we spoke to seemed to be happy. We did ask many different people inculding families and students that were graduation this past year. Also asked people who were in Jesuit High Schools, all agreed this was a great school. Did everyone lie, are we making a mistake sending our child here

NoMoreByrdPork
08-13-09 6:24 PM
bukeye09 You are correct. Denny was great. Hey letha, great job firing him. He was only up by 80 students from the previous year. Wonder how the Fr. G legion of goons feels now. Seems anybody who did a great job there was from outside the area, came in, did the job, rocked the boat, got great results and got canned for it. And none of it ever makes the intelligencer.

NoMoreByrdPork
08-13-09 6:20 PM
And let's not forget that even Congressman Mollohan realized how bad things were there and pulled out all his programs in the 2004/2005 and gave that money to the WVHTF. He was smart enough to realize nothing good comes out of that campus.

NoMoreByrdPork
08-13-09 6:18 PM
wju1982 is correct that there are hardworking people at WJU. Unfortunately, those that try to bring about change and move in new directions (not saying fr. g was one of them) are saddled by some many low life scumbags who are ont he payroll because they have no talent and no place else to go and do not work hard. Unfortunately, the people at WJU have no other employment options. And let's not forget that since 2002, WJU has lost 3 presidents, 1 Executive VP< 3 VPs for Advancement, 3 CFOs/VPs for Finance, 2 VPs for Univ. Relations, 3 Admissions Directors, 2 VPs for Student Affairs, 3 CEOs of the CET, 3 CEOs of the NTTC, downsized out publicly 65 employees and who knows how many others just "disappear". WJU is where it is because it has some really bad people at director level. These are folks who are like moles. They tunnel, but they are blind and have no idea where they are heading or why.

wju1982
08-11-09 5:44 PM
Honestly, what people don't realize is that the majority of work at the school is done by hard working, vastly underpaid and under appreciated staff members. If WJU had ten more Erin McDonald or Corinne Chamberlins, it would start turning around in under a year. The departure of this latest president points again to the problems the school has with strong consistent leadership, but I think the bigger problem lies in their lack of recognition of excellent employees.

Bluebirds60
08-11-09 1:46 PM
This news brings up a lot of RED flags for clergy sex abuse victims. Also, can someone please tell me about this Tom Acker? Is he a priest there?

quoted on this blog: "Tom Acker kept a pet dog and would walk this dog at night in an attempt to peek in girls' dorm windows!"----

Judy Jones, SNAP Director Ohio Valley, 636-433-2511---- "Survivor Network of those Abused by Priets"

DrFunZ
08-10-09 1:30 PM
Let's get real... Presidents do not keep track of large grants - that's why there are VPs and comptrollers supervised by VPs!!

Guess which VP was in charge of the NTTC for the NASA grant?? It was the VP for Sponsored Programs, Governmental Relations & Legal Advisor?? And who exactly was that???? YES, YOU GUESSED!! Davitt McAteer!!!! So the fox is now IN CHARGE of the whole hen house. And to those of you who are impugning Julio Giullietti's good name - get a grip. He is a good priest, who broke no rules, he is no heretic, who has not been dipping into the coffers. He can sue because this will be an EEOC case and, trust me, there are a bunch of folks who are going to come to Giullietti's defense. No, this was a propped up kangaroo court, not sure if it is Jesuit-led or not (I do not ever recollect Jesuit university BofT being made up of only Jesuits, but I could be wrong in the case oif WJU), to get Julio out before his time and this NASA thing was the perfect excuse.

InsideKnowledge
08-07-09 9:29 AM
Davitt McAteer made 225k last year for nothing. They have faculty on staff with PhDs who have been there for 20+ years and make less than 1/4th of that.

Melvin
08-07-09 7:31 AM
FROM THE AUDIT REPORT:

"Specifically, for three WJU staff members, labor costs were included in two different areas of the proposal—100 percent of their salaries as individual staff members with specific responsibilities; and an additional 5 percent for two of the staff members and 35 percent for the other for “CET Management.” Although the three individuals have dual roles within WJU, the grants officers should not have accepted WJU’s proposal to charge more than 100 percent of their salaries to the NASA agreement."

Translation: poor oversight, or a knowledge of the problem and an inappropriate response.

Melvin
08-07-09 7:28 AM
Let's see if the local news has the "guts" to publish this, released several days ago.

From www hq nasa gov dated August 3, from an audit by the Office of Inspector General.

FROM THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

"We found that NASA inappropriately approved, obligated, and partially expended more than $4 million of facility and administrative (F&A) costs2 because NASA grant officers in charge of the WJU agreements did not adequately review WJU’s cost proposals."

Melvin
08-07-09 7:20 AM
NTTC got millions that disappeared.

Doesn't Macateer, interim president, run NTTC?

EllisWyatt
08-07-09 6:57 AM
BTW, I was not attacking the Jesuits for their stock of alcohol. There was a saying when I was there and that was "wherever there are three or four Catholics, there is always a fifth". Jesuits are men like any other. They like the booze, so be it. I have personally shared many a beer with certain Jesuits. They have a lot of good wine and Molson by the case. At least they used to. I can't speak as to their recent stockpile.

I found most of the Jesuits to be intelligent, kind, friendly, open and interesting people. I had, and still have, a lot of respect for the Jesuits I knew. That said, TA was NOT a Jesuit. He wore the costume but that was only because he was related to the Devil, and nobody ever had the heart to tell him that Halloween only comes once per year.

EllisWyatt
08-07-09 6:54 AM
steeler

I am not bashing the institution. I AM bashing the people who run it. The U has lost its' way. While the Jesuits at WJU at somewhat conservative, they are also, in many ways, blatant socialists. This reflects the socialist nature of the Jesuit order.

I never liked Tom Acker. I thought he was an arrogant, rude, obnoxious, snotty, sleazy pretend priest. He was certainly not a man of God. His nonstop kissing up to KKK Byrd was shameful. This man actually defended Byrd's votes in support of abortion by stating that Byrd wasn't actually voting FOR abortion. He compared Byrd's theft of pork dollars for WJU with Moses parting the Red Sea.

The females on the back side of Sara Tracy were warned by their RA's to keep their blinds drawn at all times, as Acker had a telescope in his office at CET. I think an apt nickname for him would be Peeping Tom.

This man's negatives FAR outweighed his positives. Eventually, even the Jesuits got tired of him and the U fired him.

WVtoMD1992
08-07-09 12:02 AM
I believe Ellis hits the nail square on the head. It is painful to hear, but most of what he states rings true. This is just another dark cloud hanging over WJU. Ellis - i had to laugh at the peek in the windows jab of Acker. Hell, I found him to be creepy.

WVtoMD1992
08-06-09 11:56 PM
As a graduate of WJU and former resident of Wheeling, I thought WJU was the last good thing left in my hometown...well, at least there is still the Alpha.

steelercrazy
08-06-09 11:04 PM
Ellis, as a WJU grad as well, I find your continual bashing of the school tedious. Yes, the college has problems. But a Camry and $100,000 salary is considered a problem to you??? I was not a Fr. Acker fan in the least, but a President of a college should have a good car and a good salary, especially when most of that money is donated to the WJU scholarship fund. Your Whelan Hall comment was an extremely low blow and an embarrassment to you.

Two things can be count on this site: Truth/Nancy bashing of morning editorials before 6AM, and Ellis (who I respect your intelligence in most other postings) laying the smackdown on WJU at every opportunity.

BigCanary
08-06-09 10:53 PM
smillard is on to something--I thought board members should maintain confidentiality. Who are all of these "reliable sources" and how much did Donald Hofreuter really tell the reporter?

VictimOfWJU
08-06-09 7:52 PM
I'd like to nominate Br. Jim Holub, SJ for president of WJU. I think he and the Jesuits that run the place would be a match made in heaven.

smillard
08-06-09 6:59 PM
Does anyone actually read what they are saying on here? The board of director’s vote FAILED!!!! The board of trustees who are all Jesuits fired him.

"Dr. Donald Hofreuter, a member of the WJU Board of Directors, said he was "sorry to learn of the action of the board of trustees with regard to the termination of Father Julio Giulietti."

Do you think this is some kind of conspiracy? There must be some reason that we may never know about and more than likley should not.

warbucks
08-06-09 6:54 PM
Finally TVI makes everything clear

Graysongs
08-06-09 6:53 PM
TruthSeeker - You leave out one critically important bit of the Jesuit tradition - "For Christ". Without that, it's just an expensive private college.

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