BY LEV D. ZILBERMINTS
Seton Hall University has defied its nominal superior, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of New Jersey. The Roman Catholic University is refusing to provide the “full cooperation” that Cardinal Tobin has promised. Seton Hall is under investigation for installing Monsignor Joseph Reilly as president despite Reilly’s lack of action of past sexual abuse allegations.
According to Politico, which reported the story in its May 23, 2025 issue, “A day after the new pontiff was chosen on May 8, attorneys for the university blocked a key witness from participating in a clergy abuse investigation Tobin had ordered, according to a court filing.”
Cardinal Tobin left New Jersey earlier in May to participate in the election of a new pope. This means that Seton Hall University deliberately waited until after the cardinal departed to make its move. According to Politico, Cardinal Tobin personally oversees both governing boards of Seton Hall University.
Given the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, the university’s act constitutes insubordination to its superior, Cardinal Joseph Tobin.
Why the defiant insubordination?
As reported by Politico in its May 23 issue, “Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, ordered a comprehensive investigation into clergy abuse in February, several weeks after POLITICO reported that Reilly was found in a 2019 inquiry to have not properly reported abuse allegations years prior as a seminary leader. That earlier investigation came in response to sexual abuse claims against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the longtime archbishop of Newark and Washington, D.C. It found decades of sexual harassment and a “culture of fear and intimidation” under McCarrick, according to a summary published by the university. McCarrick died last month at age 94.
Reilly, who once served as a secretary to McCarrick, was not accused of abuse himself. But an action plan adopted by the university recommended he be removed from school boards and not hold leadership positions there. He took a year-long sabbatical and, after Nyre’s departure, became university president last year with unanimous support of the school’s Board of Regents and Tobin, who called Reilly “the right person at the right time for Seton Hall.”
“In February, Tobin hired the law firm Ropes & Gray to essentially investigate the investigation, and to review the action plan the university adopted as a result. Tobin said his inquiry would examine how the findings related to Reilly and “whether they were communicated to any and all appropriate personnel at the Archdiocese and Seton Hall University.”
It could be that Seton Hall University administration cannot afford even the investigation of an investigation. As anyone who watched mystery movies and read detective stories knows, in an investigation unpleasant facts often come out. Thus, even with Tobin’s investigation, SHU could not take the chance of unpleasant matters becoming public knowledge. For Seton Hall University, reputation is everything. This is the most likely reason why the school tries to deny, delay, suppress witness testimony, and more.
Former President Nyre blocked from testifying
According to Politico, Joseph Nyre, the university’s former president, had been scheduled to speak with investigators until Seton Hall intervened. In his first public comments since leaving the presidency, Nyre said in a statement: “Either the Cardinal has been overruled by his own board, including the bishops who sit on it, or the openness he promised is being applied only when convenient. The public deserves to know which it is.”
According to Politico, Nyre had been scheduled to speak with Ropes & Gray on May 9. But a lawyer for Seton Hall, Tom Scrivo, said in a letter to Nyre’s attorneys that “contractual obligations” blocked Nyre from sharing any confidential information he may have as a result of his employment as president.
“There is no exception to that broad prohibition that would permit Dr. Nyre to answer any questions at an interview regarding any matter within the scope of the Ropes review,” Scrivo wrote.
He added that an April 4 court order in the ongoing litigation between Nyre and Seton Hall was “unambiguous” that Nyre cannot share confidential information with Ropes & Gray.
According to Politico, “One of Nyre’s attorneys said Seton Hall is “clearly attempting to weaponize” that court order to “muzzle” his client.
“This position is not only at odds with the plain language of the April 4 Order,” the lawyer, Austin Tobin, said in a letter to the judge seeking a status conference on the matter. “… but also very odd considering the fact that the Archdiocese of Newark is conducting the interview at issue on behalf of the University.”
Now the archdiocese is “working diligently” with the university to ensure investigators have “access to all relevant information as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for the cardinal said.
Local Talk reported in August 2024 that the Perry Report, commissioned by Seton Hall University administration, found no evidence of sexual harassment allegations filed by Kelli Nyre against ex-Board chair Kevin Marino. However, it was reported later in the media that Kevin Flood, a member of the university’s governing board of regents, was forced to resign his position. Allegedly Mr. Flood was threatened by other board members when he tried to stand up for Joseph and Kelli Nyre.
Seton Hall University has a history of scandals going back decades. As Local Talk reported over the past seven years, Seton Hall University has a poor record of addressing and coping with sexual harassment scandals.
Effect on ongoing investigations
Currently there are several scandals that surround Seton Hall University. There is the baseball hazing scandal; the appointment of Monsignor Reilly as president; the sexual allegations scandals. The point is that if the university defied Cardinal Tobin in one investigation, the same might happen in other investigations.
Local Talk will keep its readers informed of any new developments in the ongoing Seton Hall University scandals.
