Students and parents of Ave Maria University/College/School of Law might be interested to know how profits from their federal student loans landed in the campaign coffers of Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, and the DNC. It happened thanks to AMU's Nick Healy and Fr. Fessio, who allowed one of their long-time banking associates to turn Ave Maria into a lender's playground for his Miami-based finance company. More...

Tags: accountability, conflict-of-interest

Today, the faculty of the Ave Maria School of Law released their response to the Read & White "Feasibility Report" commissioned by Tom Monaghan. An additional report compiled by AMSL's Professor Falvey remains tied-up and unreleased by the AMSL Board.

UPDATE (12/15/06): In response to the AMSL administration's unsatisfactory reply to a complaint filed at the American Bar Association, the ABA is sending a "fact finding" investigator to the school. The administration was unable to "establish that it is operating in compliance with the (ABA) Standards." Story developing...

The clock is ticking. AMU's North Central Association candidacy status (through the Michigan campus) expired in June 2006. AMU's temporary accreditation through AALE expires in November 2007. As of November 2006, AMU hasn't even applied for regional accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). AMU is scheduled to move to its to-be-constructed campus in a to-be-constructed town for Fall 2007 classes. And to make matters even more complicated, AMU decided to tie its yet-unsubmitted SACS accreditation to a merger with a Nicaraguan institution (for an AMU branch campus) that must completely restructure its majors and curriculum to meet SACS requirements. Add to this the fact that (a) the AMU/Nicaraguan merger has yet to be approved by the US Department of Education, (b) that the Nicaraguan campus is run by an enemy of the newly elected Ortega government, and (c) that Tom Monaghan is pushing hard to uproot the accredited and successful Ave Maria School of Law (Michigan) onto AMU, and you have to wonder if the Ave Maria planners have an institutional death wish.More...

Tags: accountability

Back in September, Avewatch reported on the sworn testimony provided by AMU's former CFO. One of the many curious things mentioned in the deposition was the funding of the chapel at the soon-to-be-named Ave Maria University Latin American campus in Nicaragua ("Ave Maria College of the Americas"). It was said by the then-CFO at AMU:
"One of the things that came to my attention was an unusual transaction related to the funding for the chapel down in Nicaragua. … it came to light that there was a liability in order to repay a Father Fessio ($240,000) for construction for the College chapel. When I inquired as to why there was no liability on the financial statements for that, I was told that the liability was, quote, off balance sheet.

This transaction deserves further investigation. Fr. Fessio is the Provost of Ave Maria University in Florida. Did Monaghan run Foundation money through Fessio's personal account? Were additional funds routed through Fr. Fessio's bank account to fund AMU projects? It is also unclear whether Fr. Fessio violated canon law in these matters given:

Can. 285 §4. Without the permission of their ordinary, they [clerics] are not to take on the management of goods belonging to lay persons or secular offices which entail an obligation of rendering accounts. They are prohibited from giving surety even with their own goods without consultation with their proper ordinary. They also are to refrain from signing promissory notes, namely, those through which they assume an obligation to make payment on demand.

Tags: accountability, conflict-of-interest