What’s happening in Seton Hall fight? University sues ex-president, blames him for leak

In the latest chapter of Seton Hall University’s ongoing leadership crisis, the college is blaming the bad publicity involving its current president on its former one.

Seton Hall filed a lawsuit against former president Joseph Nyre Wednesday, accusing him of “illicitly accessing, downloading, maintaining and later disseminating confidential and proprietary documents, as well as documents protected by the attorney-client and work product privileges, and information after his departure as president of the university.”

Those documents formed the basis of media reports that its recently named president, Monsignor Joseph Reilly, has a problematic history as the former dean of the university’s seminary.

A copy of the lawsuit can be seen at the bottom of this story.

Acrimony between Nyre and Seton Hall is not new. Nyre followed up his 2023 resignation by filing a lawsuit against the university last year alleging harassment.

Seton Hall’s lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in state Superior Court of New Jersey, alleges that Nyre “purposefully and knowingly accessed and retrieved university property and confidential information from the university’s computer systems and, upon information and belief, stored it on personal devices and disseminated it to third parties without authorization” and added, “the university has been damaged in its business and property as a result of defendant’s improper taking of university property and confidential information.”

Starting in December, Politico.com published a series of reports about an internal investigation commissioned by Seton Hall that in 2019 concluded Reilly knew of sexual abuse allegations at the seminary that he did not report — recommended he be removed as a seminary leader.

“Based on the nature of the information being disclosed, the university became suspicious that confidential information was being disclosed to reporters by defendant,” the lawsuit alleges.

“In response to the university’s concerns regarding the potential disclosure of confidential information by defendant,” the lawsuit continues, “on or about December 17, 2024, the university, through its counsel, sent correspondence to defendant’s attorneys, raising concerns that defendant ‘has shared SHU’s confidential information, documents, and/or communications with at least one individual who is not affiliated with SHU and who, in turn, has disseminated SHU’s confidential information through anonymous communications.’

After being hired to lead Seton Hall in 2019, Nyre resigned abruptly in July 2023, a year before his initial five-year term expired.

“After reconfirming defendant’s obligations under the employment agreement and separation agreement, the university requested — as it is entitled to under the separation agreement — that defendant execute an affidavit ‘attesting that he is in compliance with his obligations under both the employment agreement and the separation agreement,’” Seton Hall’s lawsuit against Nyre stated. “Defendant did not execute the affidavit, nor did his attorneys respond to the December 17, 2024, correspondence.”

The lawsuit was first reported by Inside Higher Ed, which also reported Nyre attorney Matthew Luber calling it “a desperate, retaliatory ploy designed to silence a whistleblower and distract from the university’s own corruption and misconduct.”

What we know about Seton Hall’s troubles

Nyre was serving as president of Iona College when he was recruited to be Seton Hall’s president by Kevin Marino, who at the time was chair of the university’s board of regents. By 2023 the relationship between the two had ruptured, starting with a disagreement over how to respond to an embezzlement scandal at Seton Hall Law School.

The governance of the law school and its level of autonomy from university leadership became an irreconcilable source of contention between Nyre and Marino. Nyre wanted less autonomy and more direct oversight from his office. Marino is a graduate of the law school.

In December 2024, a former assistant dean at the law school was given a three-year prison sentence for embezzling at least $1.3 million over more than a decade, with the help of two other law school employees.

In early 2024 Nyre and his wife Kelli sued the university, claiming that Marino, who had since stepped down as board of regents chair, had harassed and intimidated them. Nyre’s lawsuit, which remains pending, claimed the university retaliated against him over his conflict with Marino.

Marino blasted the claim as “disgraceful” and a third-party investigation on the matter found no evidence to support it. Marino was not named as a defendant in Nyre’s lawsuit.

With this cloud hanging over Seton Hall, Seton Hall’s regents in April hired Reilly and projected much fanfare about his integrity.

“There is no one better suited to leading the university at this moment — a time when Seton Hall stands at the cusp of extraordinary progress,” Hank D’Alessandro, chair of the Board of Regents and the presidential search committee, said at the time. “Monsignor Reilly was the ideal choice. He possesses a deep faith in God and a demonstrable commitment to nurturing our students to greatness as we advance among the nation’s foremost Catholic universities.”

Reilly is a 1987 graduate of Seton Hall who in 1994 served as a priest secretary to the since-disgraced Theodore McCarrick, who was archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark at the time. McCarrick was defrocked by Pope Francis after allegations of sexual misconduct with seminarians and minors over a period of decades were found to be credible.

More on McCarrick: Judge rules former cardinal not competent to stand trial

Reilly returned to Seton Hall’s seminary in 2002 as a rector and in 2012 became dean of the university’s Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology.

In 2018 Seton Hall’s board of regents retained the law firm Latham & Watkins LLP to investigate McCarrick’s actions and the culture at the seminary. The university later released a one-page review of the investigation, slamming McCarrick (who already was a public pariah) and stating that the university’s Title IX policies addressing sexual misconduct were not always followed by the seminary.

No further details from Latham & Watkins’ report were released.

Reilly’s tenure began in July. Gannett New Jersey requested an interview with him on several occasions from April to November, only to be rebuffed by members of the university’s communications team.

In December, Politico reported that in 2012, Reilly “investigated a student complaint of sexual assault (at the seminary) … and did not report it or follow the school and federal Title IX policies and procedures.”

The seminarian was dismissed from the seminary, but the university was not alerted to the problem and he continued as a student at Seton Hall, Politico reported.

Earlier this month, Politico published correspondence from 2019 by Joseph LaSala, who at the time was chair of a special task force of Seton Hall’s board of regents, informing Reilly that he violated federal Title IX policies on sexual abuse reporting and should be removed from his leadership posts at the university.

“The Latham Report found that you were aware of sexual harassment allegations involving ICS (Immaculata Conception Seminary) seminarians and did not report such allegations to SHU officials, in violation of the university’s Title IX policies,” LaSala’s letter to Reilly dated Nov. 25, 2019, reads. “The Latham investigators also found that you declined to answer questions regarding certain sexual harassment at SAH (Saint Andrew’s Hall, which is part of the seminary), of which you were aware during your time is rector of ICS. As a result, the Responsive Action Plan recommends that the Archbishop of Newark remove you from your position as Rector of ICS.”

By this time several New Jersey political leaders, including Gov. Phil Murphy, were calling for transparency from Seton Hall, which declined to the Latham & Watkins report public even while claiming its contents were being mischaracterized in the media.

On Feb. 10, Cardinal Joseph Tobin announced the hiring of New York-based law firm Ropes & Gray LLP to review the circumstances surrounding Reilly’s appointment as Seton Hall president. Tobin helms the Archdiocese of Newark, under whose auspices Seton Hall falls.

“The Ropes & Gray review will have the full cooperation of the Board of Regents and Seton Hall University,” Tobin announced. “I have not placed a timetable on this review by Ropes & Gray, nor have I restricted the firm from exploring any relevant facts or avenue of investigation. A transparent review of the facts will best serve the interests of all involved and of those who have voiced a call for it.”

On Feb. 19 Seton Hall sued Nyre, accusing him of leaking confidential documents about Reilly.

What we don’t know

The big unknown is the actual content of the 2019 Latham & Watkins report on its investigation into McCarrick, Reilly and seminary.

In an analysis published earlier this month by Inside Higher Ed, Seton Hall explained its rationale for withholding the report.

“The goal of the Latham Report and the Responsive Action Plan was to drive change and ensure a safer, more responsive campus environment,” Seton Hall officials informed Inside Higher Ed. “To accomplish that goal, the review relied on voluntary cooperation of numerous individuals who were promised confidentiality for the university to learn what happened.”

What Reilly knew, as McCarrick’s secretary, about McCarrick’s sexual harassment of seminarians also remains unclear.

Also unknown is why the Responsive Action Plan cited by LaSala in his 2019 letter to Reilly permitted him “to continue as a faculty member” even as it called for his removal from seminary leadership.

Multiple emails from Gannett New Jersey to LaSala, who no longer sits on Seton Hall’s governing board, went unanswered.

Nyre lawsuit by Dennis Carmody on Scribd

Jerry Carino: jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: What’s happening at Seton Hall? University sues former president

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