Mercyhurst was aware of the allegations against William Garvey in 2002 (two years before the original Times-News article broke), but voted to extend Garvey's contract until 2007. Most people forget that when the original Ed Palattella article first broke in October 2004, Mercyhurst's initial response (besides confiscating newspapers from around Campus), was to hire an out-of-town law firm to protect Garvey and a public relations firm to help them "spin" their message.

When the public began to see thru this and ask too many questions, Mercyhurst's plan changed. They decided to hire retired judge Michael Palmisano to assemble a crack team to investigate the allegations. Marlene Mosco publically praised Michael Palmisano's reputation and integrity, but of course they always hoped that Palmisano and his team would uncover evidence that would "disprove" the allegations.

Instead, Palmisano found the opposite. He wrote a memo to the Board in which he stated the "allegations appear to have merit", and predicted that more men would soon come forward.

Because Marlene Mosco and a small group of other board members didn't like what Palmisano had to tell them, they hid the Palmisano memo from the remainder of the board and buried it for nearly a year. On top of that, the Times-News was about to publish a follow-up story about Garvey (in which it had found MORE men who had come forward).

So it was arranged for Garvey to "retire" from the college by going on a year-long sabbatical where he earned nearly $120,000. He only "officially" retired in early 2006.

Didn't Thomas Gamble began work as President of Mercyhurst all the way back in March? Why did we need a lavish "Coronation of the King" in Mid September?? And how much did this cost the college? For an instituion that has had sizable tuition increases every year, this seems like an unnecessary waste of money. What a disgrace to see the big picture of Gamble with Marlene Mosco in today's newspaper also. Aside from William Garvey, no one person did more to damage the reputation of Mercyhurst during the scandal than Marlene Mosco did.

As for Gamble himself, did anyone ever doubt that he'd be the one finally selected for the job?

Mercyhurst presented a false front of reassuring the public that it was looking to get past the Garvey scandal by claiming it was leading a nationwide search for the "best candidate" for the job. In the meantime, Gamble's name was quietly submitted into the list of candidates. When the final decision was made, EVERY SINGLE PERSON ON THE BOARD voted to pick Tom Gamble as the new President. Every single person. And many of the candidates vying for the job had resumes and experienced that dwarfed Gambles. What a sham.

And don't forget, Thomas Gamble was part of the SAME BOARD THAT WORKED TO PROTECT WILLIAM GARVEY DURING THE SCANDAL. Gamble had also been a friend and associate with Garvey for several years, as they worked quite closely together. For instance, when the C-Cubed organiation was formed, C-Cubed needed TWO people from Mercyhurst college to sit on it. Who did William Garvey select from Mercyhurst to sit with him on C-Cubed? Thomas Gamble!

Garvey spent nearly 25 years packing the Mercyhurst Board of Directors with friends and allies. In the end, Mercyhurst was never going to pick anyone other than an insider who would not present a threat to the same "clique" of people that protected Garvey (Mosco, Daly, Bukowski, Sennett, Lanzillo, etc). On top of that, they wanted someone who would work to protect Garvey's legacy at the college. Notice how Gamble wouldn't even consider renaming Garvey Park?

Think about it. One of the most beautiful areas of the Mercyhurst Campus today is named after a dangerous sexual predator and molestor of young boys. Shameful, but not unexpected.

Very little has changed at Mercyhurst. The same folks who protected and covered up for William Garvey are still at the college running the show.