Seton Hall students are juggling academics, internships, and extracurriculars, but for some, another major concern looms: the controversy surrounding the leader of their university.
As described last week in The Setonian, the university has been disputing allegations that President Msgr. Joseph Reilly failed to properly report allegations of sexual misconduct at SHU’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology (ICS) and the College Seminary at St. Andrew’s Hall during his time as the leader of those seminaries.
While many students chose not to comment on the situation, those who did expressed concern.
Michael Parisi, a graduate supply chain management major who said he first heard of the Msgr. Reilly allegations from The Setonian’s Instagram, connected it to other scandals that the university has faced during his four years at SHU. These issues ranged from an embezzlement scheme at the law school to the surprise resignation of and subsequent lawsuit filed by former president Dr. Joseph Nyre. But even with “so much that happened in the past,” Parisi said he still found the allegations about Msgr. Reilly “shocking.”
“You’d expect some sort of normalcy after a little bit of time, where they’ll find somebody who really can right the ship,” Parisi said. “But I guess it’s just a lot of the time there’s always something where you just go: ‘Oh that’s Seton Hall, checks out.”’
Parisi also expressed concern for the reputation of the university and its alignment with the Catholic mission.
“It takes away from the whole message of the church to unite people and to help a neighbor, to really be that interconnected community and to make the world a better place,” he said.
Jareyli Reyes-Arce, a freshman nursing major, said she was unaware of the Msgr. Reilly allegations and that she does not like to get involved in the “politics” surrounding SHU or in general. However, upon hearing some of the details, Reyes-Arce expressed concern that the scandal could negatively impact people’s views of Catholicism and discourage others from following the religion.
“For people to hear about Catholics and sexual assault, they’re going to correlate the two of them, which is not something I’m proud of,” Reyes-Arce said.
Kenneth Roman, a junior marketing major who heard about the scandal through word of mouth, expressed disappointment but not surprise.
“Being someone that’s Catholic, it’s pretty unsettling to see all these scandals regarding the Catholic Church surface quite often,” he said.
Other students also made the connection to the Catholic Church’s history of sexual abuse scandals.
“To a degree, I feel desensitized to such incidents, to the point where I feel like I am rolling with the punches,” said Miguel Alba, a senior economics major who described himself as having a strong Catholic background. “However, I know that it is imperative that Seton Hall deals with sexual assault seriously. The Catholic faith already has a bad reputation and dealing with such incidents in a nonchalant [manner] is bad for everyone involved.”
University officials have defended Msgr. Reilly and have disputed the allegations against him, in a message to the community and in comments to the publication Inside Higher Ed. On Feb. 10, the Archbishop of Newark, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, announced a new review of the 2019 report that is at the root of the controversy. That report, which SHU enlisted the law firm Latham & Watkins to produce, investigated the connections between SHU and the disgraced former Archbishop of Newark, Theodore McCarrick. The Latham report—or parts of it—formed the basis of the allegations against Msgr. Reilly that was reported in Politico. Despite calls from elected officials—including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy—for SHU to release the full report, the university has declined to do so, citing privacy concerns (the people interviewed for the report were promised confidentiality).
Students expressed dissatisfaction with the university’s response to the allegations; some questioned the Board of Regents’ decision to appoint Msgr. Reilly as president.
Reyes-Arce said she is uncomfortable knowing that the university’s leader is facing unresolved accusations of having mishandled sexual misconduct claims.
“Are you saying it’s okay for someone to walk around with sexual assault cases?” she asked. “There’s probably other people who have experienced it [sexual assault] and feel uncomfortable about it and probably feel unsafe now.”
Gabriela Gonzalez, a freshman global supply chain management major, had similarly strong views.
“Seton Hall should have addressed this situation before the president took up the role and should not have permitted him to take it knowing he was involved in a scandal,” she said.
Gonzalez also discussed what she believes the university should do next.
“I think the university should continue to interrogate the president and should look into finding a new one,” she said. “Someone involved in a scandal like this one should not be running our university.”
Alba agreed that the university should conduct a more thorough evaluation of its presidential candidates. When he learned of the allegations, he said he was shocked to realize that SHU had selected as president “someone who could be linked to the previous controversy [the McCarrick scandal].
“It is hard to believe they could not have chosen someone who would have had a more safe record,” Alba said.
Putting aside their views on the allegations, the students interviewed for this article emphasized the importance of being considerate and supporting other members of the SHU community during these difficult times.
Roman expanded on this idea and urged his peers to report sexual assault immediately.
“Just be there for each other, if you see something [or] know something is happening, report it immediately,” he said.
Gonzalez agreed.
“Raising awareness about the matter sends a message,” she said. “People who participate in such scandals should not or will not get away with it.”
Sofia Kasbo is the assistant editor for The Setonian’s News section. She can be reached at sofia.kasbo@student.shu.edu.
Esmeralda Arias, the Managing Editor of The Setonian, contributed to reporting. She can be reached at esmeralda.arias@student.shu.edu.
