Feds raid McAteer office at WJU!

When Fr. Julio was fired, I immediately linked Davitt McAteer to the NASA scandal as a reason for firing WJU's President. Now the Feds have seized files from McAteer's campus office, from his home office in the eastern panhandle, and perhaps from his Morgantown office (rent paid by WJU). Click HERE and HERE for newspaper accounts.

BACKGROUND:

On 8/3/9 NASA issued an audit report critical of WJU. Only hours later that day, Gerard Stockhausen, S.J., sent an e-mail notice of the meeting where Julio Giulietti, S.J., was surreptitiously fired in absentia, sans debate. The intensive clandestine campaign to fire the president was launched by and spearheaded by J. Davitt McAteer; this according to statements later issued by board member Rudolph L. DiTrapano, Sr. Coincidental? In my Chicago, we have a saying: 'There are no coincidences in politics.'

We now know that Mount de Chantal real estate was the bishop's reason for firing our president. But that may not have been the only reason. There is ample evidence to conclude that at least one person wanted to prevent Julio Giulietti, S.J., from delving into the NASA mess, and that person was J. Davitt McAteer.

As VP for Sponsored Programs, Governmental Relations and Legal Advisor, McAteer was responsible for the Center for Educational Technologies and also the National Technology Transfer Center. McAteer has accumulated considerable personal wealth from taxpayer dollars. A NASA honeypot is certainly not beyond the scope of reasonable inquiry.

Why else would McAteer be appointed acting president? Who appointed him acting president? That question has never been answered by anyone. The Wheeling Intelligencer has never reported his appointment, and has never reported the critical NASA audit report.

In an 8/31/9 article entitled WJU Debacle: Who did it, How they did it, and Why they did it, I answered the question, Why did they do it? in part:
"Perhaps the goal was not to fire Julio Giulietti, but to put Davitt McAteer in the president's office to cover up the NASA mess (In this scenario, Julio Giulietti was merely collateral damage). The troika gave McAteer that job for a reason. He was VP for Sponsored Programs, Governmental Relations and Legal Advisor. That means he was responsible for the Center for Educational Technologies and also the National Technology Transfer Center. Immediately preceding the board action against Julio Giulietti, NASA issued an audit report critical of WJU. That timing cannot be dismissed as merely coincidental! And the report cannot be dismissed as merely a $4,000,000 clerical error OK'd by the man in charge, (guess who?) Davitt McAteer. The entire $4,000,000 inappropriately charged to NASA was attributed to salaries for administrators. That means, (guess who?) Davitt McAteer. For certain, Julio Giulietti has not been president long enough to be responsible for the increased debt caused by this NASA mess. NASA issues the audit report critical of WJU, and immediately McAteer replaces Giulietti! Sounds like fertile ground for a grand-jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney."

On 8/14/9 I e-mailed a letter to J. Davitt McAteer responding to his letter of the same day to alumni. I wrote in part: "The Intelligencer details a long list of impressive accomplishments for his brief tenure. Why did WJU fire him? Please tell us the truth. To do otherwise would be tantamount to character assassination of a good and decent Jesuit who acted honorably. No matter how sordid you believe it is, the truth is better than that in which you are now mired [a reference to the NASA scandal]."
McAteer has never responded to my letter.

On 10/24/9 I wrote an Open Letter to Father Provincial James Shea, S.J. regarding WJU's growing list of scandals. In part, I wrote:
"NASA issues the audit report critical of WJU, and immediately McAteer replaces Giulietti! The public perception is clear: WJU has been placed between avaricious men and a pile of money. Remedy: a restoration of accountability to the NASA program by requiring full disclosure of Davitt McAteer's oversight of the NASA debacle."
Shea has never responded to my letter.

It would appear that the U.S. Attorney now shares my desire for full disclosure.

Magna est veritas et praevalebit!
(Truth is mighty and shall prevail!)

Mike Fahy

Another Nail in the Coffin

I was on business in Belgium last week and returned to discover that a power-hungry member of the Wheeling College administration has fallen.

Some back ground. Fr. Julio sacking was against the will of the full board of directors.  It was orchestrated by a small group of narrow thinking, fearful, jealous and power-hungry people – not all men – who could not bear change.  Of the three Jesuit trustees who voted in the darkness of secrecy to overturn the will of the board, two have been discredited.  We wait for the fall of the third, who all know, has not born the heat of just labor for a long time.

Yet there were others behind the scenes to design the ignominious sacking of a good man. One is Mr. J. Davitt McAteer, then a VP for Sponsored Programs, mostly federal programs with NASA.  Board members tell me that Fr. Giulietti was aware that Mr. McAteer acquired an outrageously high salary for his position especially while the college was struggling for solvency.  Father was supported in his decision to limit McAteer’s salary and investigate questionable practices with NASA grants.   Mr. McAteer complained to some board members (who did not like Father Julio) that he was unjustly persecuted; that his salary was just for the money he brought in; and that if he left his position the college would lose its federal (NASA) funding.  At that time, college employees monitoring the federal grants noticed irregularities under the VP’s nose.  NASA questioned the college on its monitoring of its funds which were under the direction of Mr. McAteer.

The day of Fr. Julio’s demise, it was Mr. McAteer who was immediately appointed by unknown board members as acting president of the college.  Insult to injury for Fr. Julio and the college community!  Some close to events then remark that Mr. McAteer wielded his unjust authority brutally against Fr. Julio and anyone who questioned his authority.  Sadly, the Jesuits did not intervene.

Now Mr. McAteer is in deep trouble.  Loads of files from his campus office and home office have been seized by federal authorities so they can examine his seemingly illicit practices with federal moneys.  See: HERE

Mr. McAteer, the feds have caught up with you.  You are another nail in the college’s coffin.

-by Larry Catraro