OU house deal appeared improper, inquiry finds
An Ohio University realestate deal with an alumnus, donor and local businessman for a home for its university president in 2015 had the appearance of impropriety, the Ohio Inspector General’s office has found after a threeyear investigation.
The investigation began in spring 2015, after the university signed a lease for a home at 31 Coventry Lane in Athens for then-President Roderick McDavis and his wife, Deborah. The university had leased the house and negotiated an option to buy it and the surrounding property from John Wharton.
After the lease was signed, university officials learned that Wharton had promised more donations to the university once the sale was complete, including a pledged $100,000 gift to the Ohio University Athletic Department and promising to make another of the same amount.
University officials were made aware of Wharton’s donor records while compiling documents as part of public records requests from local newspapers. The revelation drew student protests.
By April 2015, the university’s vice president for finance and administration announced that, to avoid the appearance of impropriety, the university would not buy the house.
Through requested records and interviews conducted by the inspector general’s office, investigators learned that “Wharton had professional relationships with various members of the Ohio University negotiation team, university management, and the Ohio University Foundation in a variety of capacities, including: as a university and foundation donor; a member of the Ohio Bobcat Club Advisory Board; an intermediary with a local developer; a Realtor; and a property manager,” the inspector general’s report said.
“The Office of the Ohio Inspector General determined Wharton’s relationships with university staff, in conjunction with this history of donating to both Ohio University and to the Ohio University Foundation, fostered an appearance of preferential treatment when OU selected a property owned by Wharton to serve as a temporary residence for the family of OU President Roderick McDavis,” the report said.
Though Wharton had discussions with the athletic department about a conditional $100,000 donation during the same time he was negotiating with the university over the Coventry Lane property, the inspector general’s office found no evidence that McDavis, Athletic Director Jim Schaus or Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development Ryan White had shared Wharton’s conversations with the OU staff involved in the property’s lease negotiations.
The investigation found no evidence of a quid pro quo, the report said.
The report also found OU improperly paid more than $20,000 to a Wharton company for replacement of decking and sod at the Coventry Lane home, but found no evidence that the university had requested the work be completed.
Ohio University General Counsel John Biancamano said Tuesday that the university found the inspector general’s report fair. He said the university already has implemented changes to avoid similar situations in the future.
“These can sometimes be positive experiences for an institution,” Biancamano said. “It’s not a bad thing for an institution to have its books reviewed and its processes looked at. We looked at this as an opportunity to do things better and we’ll continue to try.”