Duquesne U. Law Professor Defends His Own Tenure Case, and Wins; U. of Mary Washington President Placed on Leave After 2 DUI's

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By KATHERINE MANGAN and PAUL FAIN

FIGHTING HIS OWN CASE: John T. Rago spends much of his time working to free wrongly convicted prisoners, but in April, the assistant professor of law at Duquesne University won a reversal in a more personal matter: his own tenure case.

Mr. Rago chairs a statewide committee that studies wrongful convictions in Pennsylvania. He is also founding director of the university's Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law and founder of the law school's Post Conviction DNA Project.

In March of 2006, Charles J. Dougherty, Duquesne's president, rejected Mr. Rago's bid for tenure, despite positive recommendations from faculty members and Dean Donald J. Guter of the Law School.

"When the president said no, it baffled everyone — especially me," Mr. Rago said.

Mr. Rago, who received his undergraduate and law degrees at Duquesne, said he didn't want to uproot his wife and three children and decided to fight for his job. He has served as assistant and associate dean of the Law School since 1993 and joined the faculty in 2001.

"Most people would pick up and leave if the president said no, but I didn't think it was right to have my job taken away from me unjustly," said Mr. Rago, who holds a joint appointment in the university's Bayer School of Natural and Environmental Sciences. "I teach criminal law, and I teach kids to stand up and speak up for what's right."

Last year the Student Government Association voted to challenge Mr. Dougherty's decision. This past February, a university grievance committee unanimously voted to recommend that the president rescind his decision. In April about 150 students protested at the administration building.

Six days after the protest, Mr. Rago received a letter from the president that was as succinct as the negative one he had received a little over a year ago. "This is to inform you that your application for tenure is successful," the letter stated. "I appreciate your important contribution to the university and look forward to your future successes."

Mr. Rago said the president didn't explain either the thumbs up or thumbs down (and a campus spokesman said the president wouldn't comment on personnel matters), but he added that he has had "personal differences" with Mr. Dougherty. He said his work on wrongful convictions is consistent with the university's Catholic mission, and he doesn't think it had anything to do with the initial tenure denial.

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TWO STRIKES: The governing board of the University of Mary Washington has appointed Richard V. Hurley, vice president for administration, finance, and legislative affairs, as acting president to stand in for William J. Frawley. Mr. Frawley was placed on paid leave in April after his arrest on two drunken-driving charges on consecutive days.

In a written statement, the board members expressed "our deepest concerns and support for President Frawley and his family at this very difficult time."

In a statement on the university's Web site, Mr. Frawley stressed that the driving incidents were "highly unusual and totally out of character for me."

Mr. Frawley became the university's president in July 2006. He was previously dean of George Washington University's Columbia College of Arts and Sciences.

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NEWSWORTHY: Eileen McNamara, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist at The Boston Globe, and Charles A. Radin, a longtime reporter and a former bureau chief in the Middle East and the Far East for the newspaper, recently accepted buyouts from The Globe and full-time jobs at Brandeis University. While Ms. McNamara will be a professor of journalism, Mr. Radin is stepping into a new position, integrating some of the university's international programs and improving its Web site.