Treatment of Giulietti Disgusting - Letter to the Editor

August 26, 2009

I am a graduate of Boston College and have known Father Julio Giulietti, S.J., for 27 years. Father Julio is a man of integrity, sound intelligence and deep spirituality.

Since Father Julio's firing, I have read two documents from Father Ed Glynn, who has served as president of three separate Jesuit universities and as Provincial of the Maryland Province of Jesuits. He currently serves as a member on the Wheeling Jesuit Board of Directors and is a Trustee. His documents report in chronological order his dissent and the events that led to the illegal firing of Father Giulietti.

There have been no allegations or evidence of any immoral, unethical, illegal or fiduciary negligent acts by Father Julio. I am appalled and disgusted, but not completely surprised by the underhanded actions of some members of the Board of Directors. What is deeply disheartening and sad is the action of the three Jesuit Trustees. These Jesuit Trustees fired Father Giulietti without the two-thirds approval required from the Board of Directors, without the full attendance of the Trustees and while Father Julio was on vacation. I do not recollect this type of intentional public embarrassment being directed at any university president.

I cannot believe Jesuits would treat a brother Jesuit in such a despicable and disrespectful manner. Their unjust actions, if allowed to go uncorrected, will bring a greater amount of shame and distrust to the Jesuits and the Wheeling Jesuit community than the damage brought upon Father Giulietti. Have these Jesuits forgotten that they are Jesuits first? Have they dismissed the teachings of St. Ignatius to seek the presence of God Our Lord in all things and at all times, whether conversing, walking, looking, tasting, listening, thinking, in everything you do. How can they claim to hold the moral high ground to teach our sons and daughters when they behave so unethically and immorally? This is hypocrisy in its most basic form.

If there is legitimate dissatisfaction with the president's job performance, the evaluation process should have been allowed to run in its entirety. My understanding of the Wheeling Jesuit bylaws, as clearly demonstrated in Father Ed Glynn's documents, is that the Jesuit Trustees had no legal authority to take this premature and illicit action. I believe this action by the Jesuit Trustees was taken as a result of fear that the independent evaluation would not be returned in the favor of some board members and maybe even some local religious authorities outside the purview of Wheeling Jesuit University. We all make mistakes, but only men of honor and integrity will find the strength to admit their failures and correct them.

If I were a Wheeling Jesuit University alumnus, I would rescind all past and future donations to the university and demand full disclosure of these illicit events by the Trustees. If we are to sit idly by and witness injustice then we are as guilty as those who committed the act.

John W. Hwee
Chestnut Hill, Mass.

- as published in The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register