The University of Wisconsin may see a second internal investigative report into the Paul Barrows scandal after a letter was sent to Board of Regents President David Walsh Monday.
The letter, jointly written by three state representatives, was inspired by recent comments made by UW System President Kevin Reilly revealing his early knowledge of the controversy surrounding Barrows — the former UW-Madison administrator who was placed on paid leave by Chancellor John Wiley amid concerns of sexual misconduct a year ago this week.
"It is clear that President Reilly may have very well misled the Legislature and the public in the knowledge he had and when he had it in the Paul Barrows case," Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, one of the letter's authors, said. "The UW regents have a serious problem on their hands."
The letter, also signed by Reps. Steve Nass and Rob Kreibich, R-Whitewater and R-Eau Claire, came just a day after the Wisconsin State Journal printed comments Reilly made revealing his knowledge of sexual harassment allegations against Barrows as early as last November.
Walsh, however, said this revelation does not concern him, and added he does not plan to discuss the issue at the November board meeting unless another regent brings it up.
"If the only new fact that they're raising is that John Wiley told Kevin Reilly that he was placing Paul Barrows on leave — I'm not troubled by that," Walsh said. "We would expect that John Wiley would inform Kevin if some disciplinary action or any employment matter regarding a high-level employer was taken."
Regardless, Suder said the fact Reilly knew about the Barrows incident from the start should have been included in attorney Susan Steingass' audit — an internal report Reilly himself requested.
"President Reilly [had] far more information regarding the Paul Barrows case than the [report] led us to believe," Suder said. "We believe it's grounds for the Board of Regents to do their own investigation and possibly take action against President Reilly."
Although the Legislative Audit Bureau recently commenced its own independent investigation into personnel policies and practices, Suder said a more "independent" audit from the Board of Regents is necessary to fully investigate the Barrows scandal.
"The question is why [Steingass] left out of her report the fact that President Reilly had more knowledge than he told the legislature he did," Suder said. "That in itself leads many to believe that something may have been covered up, and that's a problem."
When asked why Reilly's early knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Barrows' leave was not included in her report, Steingass said she did not interview Reilly and was not aware of the extent of his involvement early on.
"[Reilly] wasn't part of the issue that I was asked to look at," Steingass said. "I was not asked to investigate anything about the system."
Steingass declined to comment on whether she felt the absence of Reilly's involvement diminished the credibility of her report, as indicated by the representatives' letter.
"They can think what they think," she said. "I did what I was asked to do."
UW System spokesperson Doug Bradley said Reilly disagreed with the representatives' assertion of any attempt to mislead the legislature into thinking Reilly was not aware of the circumstances all along.
"I think if anybody had asked Kevin, he'd have told them," Bradley said. "A lot of us knew just because Madison sent out a press release, and a communication about changes that were taking place there … the fact that the president knew a change had been made wasn't important."
Bradley declined comment when specifically asked about the extent of the information Wiley imparted to Reilly when Barrows first took leave.
"We think it's a serious enough matter for the regents to take it up," Suder said. "The pressure is on them."
