It has been two years since an ESU student filed a sexual assault claim against former Vice President of University Advancement, Isaac Sanders. The claim was first filed with an ESU Investigator, Arthur Breese.
Breese recently spoke with Pocono Record reporter Dan Berrett in an effort to clear his name from the investigation. Berrett’s article, “ESU Investigator: College, state officials meddled in scandal probe,” was published on Jan. 17, 2010.
According to the Pocono Record, “Breese, a crucial figure in the ESU sex-and-scholarships scandal, recently broke his more than two-year silence to speak publicly on the controversy.”
Breese claims that he found the student’s complaint credible, but he felt that his superiors at ESU and Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) had influenced his investigation. Breese said, “It was almost like protection.”
Breese, former director of diversity and campus mediation at ESU, was assigned to investigate the current student’s claim that Sanders had groped his genitals, asked him inappropriate questions and gave him gifts.
According to the Pocono Record, the current male student, a freshman at the time of the investigation, also told Breese that he believed “this isn’t going to go anywhere.” Breese said that the student felt pessimistic about the internal investigation because of Sanders’ close relationship with President Robert Dillman. Breese also stated that his work was closely managed.
Breese also told the Pocono Record that he found it interesting that during the investigation, his superior Victoria Sanders, who has no association with Isaac Sanders, voiced her own opinions on the sexual assault claims to Breese before all the facts were presented. “She was giving her take on the whole thing… there were lots of doubts in her tone of voice,” said Breese. He was in close contact with Victoria Sanders and PASSHE attorneys during the investigation, which was not the case in any of his other investigations.
Breese left ESU after concluding the investigation on Sanders, and he is currently the director of diversity at Geisinger Health Care Systems in Wilkes-Barre.
Breese told the Pocono Record that he has spoken out because of concerns regarding his reputation and involvement with the internal investigation.
According to Pocono Record, “ESU and PASSHE have declined to comment.”
Dr. Nancy VanArsdale, ESU APSCUF President, commented on Berret’s article: “Many APSCUF members and students at East Stroudsburg University remain extremely concerned about the alleged sexual abuse of six ESU students by a high-ranking Vice President. Last year, Governor Rendell came to ESU campus and promised that an investigation would take place quickly. Has there been a thorough investigation? If Mr. Breese was not interviewed by state investigators, as he is quoted in Pocono Record article dated Jan. 17, 2010, that is disturbing.”
Five former ESU students have also come forward with allegations regarding Sanders inappropriate behavior.
The six students, who filed a lawsuit against the university last February, have continued to pursue their case after being denied the right to withhold their identities in a ruling made by Judge James M. Munley in July.
Sanders was fired from the university in October, and he recently filed for bankruptcy.
Students have not been addressed by administration since last winter when Governor Ed Rendell spoke at a student protest and pushed for disclosure.
He also sent PASSHE delegates from Harrisburg the following month to address the student body. The delegates told the students that ESU’s sexual harassment policy was under review by the university and the state.
Students at ESU are also concerned how this will affect the university’s overall reputation. Jennifer Madonna, junior at ESU, states, “We really don’t know what happened, and it is pretty sad that a student has to search for outside help. It makes you wonder, whom can you really trust?”
She also commented that she wonders how this will affect her in terms of finding a career after college. “I am an elementary and special education major here, and I plan on teaching. After I graduate from a university that has been involved with an [alleged] sex scandal and cover up, it doesn’t look as good.”
At the time of print, ESU administration was not available for comment.
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