Tearful Harter: Cavagnaro not exonerated

RENO -- Her voice cracked as she spoke. The tears already had flowed and were on the verge of flowing again.

But as emotional as things were for UNLV President Dr. Carol Harter Thursday, she managed to set the record straight the second time around. Sort of.

Addressing the Board of Regents at Nevada-Reno, Harter said athletic director Charles Cavagnaro was not cleared of wrongdoing last month when she issued a press release regarding allegations that Cavagnaro had made racist and sexist remarks about UNLV student-athletes.

"Charles Cavagnaro was not exonerated," Harter said. "I placed a letter of reprimand in his personnel file and he made a public apology for comments that may have inadvertently offended some people.

"I sincerely believe these were responsible and appropriate actions based on the information provided to me by the office of the general counsel."

Harter was referring to her May 27 debriefing with Chancellor Richard Jarvis and assistant general counsel Kwasi Nyamekeye, who had conducted a three-week-long probe into the allegations, interviewing 60 UNLV employees and former employees.

However, despite admitting Cavagnaro had done or said something to warrant disciplinary action, Harter would not say what it was that Cavagnaro actually said or did, citing the incident as a personnel matter.

"I can't get into that," she said.

The question of what constitutes a personnel matter was the center of a heated three-hour dialogue. Regents and community leaders who addressed the board struggled to understand what was legally permissible to be made public and what had to remain confidential.

Harter said it has been a difficult time for her.

"Extremely difficult," she said. "These are complex issues we're dealing with here. I'm committed to diversity. At the same time, everyone's rights must be protected."

In her statement, Harter tried to clarify her actions of May 29.

"I have never condoned and will never condone racist, sexist or homophobic behavior by any employee or student at UNLV," she said, her voice cracking slightly. "We have made too many strides forward to permit the positive efforts of our students and faculty to be eroded by any member of the university community.

"By the same token, I will not terminate any employee or expel a student of UNLV without unequivocally clear evidence that egregious offenses have in fact occurred. Public employees and university students have rights to privacy, to fair and impartial hearings and to have the opportunity to respond to the charges raised against them."

Harter then listed four reasons that factored into her decision to reprimand Cavagnaro:

* The Chancellor's office conducted an exhaustive and independent inquiry in a fair and impartial manner.

* Those who were interviewed were forthright and didn't withhold crucial information.

* She was fully briefed on the findings by Nyamekeye.

* The details of any disciplinary actions would remain confidential in accordance with state law.

"I had not prejudged the conclusion as some have suggested," she said. "I made my decision based on the facts as they were presented to me."

Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, was pleased to see a clarification of Harter's earlier statement regarding Cavagnaro.

"I have never suggested that Dr. Harter is a bad person or a bad president," he said. "All I have suggested is that based on what I know, it seems that her administration has badly mishandled the Charlie Cavagnaro affair."

Like many who left the meeting Thursday, Harter wasn't sure if this was the end of the matter.

"I don't know," she said. "That's the regents' decision. It's no longer my decision to make as to what happens."

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