Fitz Deserves More From Gu

There was a perfectly good reason for Gonzaga University to run Dan Fitzgerald out of his job.

In July.

Back then, we might have bought a knee-jerk firing on ethical grounds - armed as the administration was with an instant and full confession from Fitzgerald over his mishandling of money as athletic director.

But three days before Christmas?

After six months of navel pondering?

Six months to get at his intent, to recognize the victimless nature of his institutional crimes, to assess what lasting damage resulted from his breach of trust with his superiors - and how that damage balanced with his two decades of zealous service to the university?

No, there’s no good reason now.

Unless you think throwing a bone to get the NCAA off your back is a good reason - and most schools do. Human sacrifice has become part and parcel of higher education’s tryst with athletics, even at pseudo-noble think tanks like Gonzaga.

Dan Fitzgerald broke the rules in the way he handled money as GU’s athletic director - the school’s rules, the NCAA’s rules. He didn’t give it to players and he didn’t put it in his own pocket, but some of the money that came into the athletic department and went out, didn’t show up on a balance sheet.

Precisely how much or precisely how it was spent, we still don’t know.

We do know that we showed up at GU on Monday for the promised explanation and heard Harry Sladich, the school’s acting president, say, “I said from the beginning of the investigation that the university would have no comment until the investigation was completed. Now is the time to make that announcement.”

Then he walked out of the room.

Guess the “acting” part of the guy’s title actually means pantomime.

The agreement between the university and Fitzgerald specifies that neither divulge details. Knowing Fitzgerald, who normally answers even the unasked questions, we can only presume he’s protecting himself from any vindictive legal action.

Knowing the school, we can only conclude it’s protecting the other side of its lap.

Sladich mumbled something about this being an “in-house personnel matter,” as if Gonzaga’s private status justifies the withholding of information. Funny, it’s a very public school when you’re being solicited for season tickets and endowments.

Even worse, athletic department personnel were warned they couldn’t even express how badly they may feel about their boss being gassed.

When last seen, the “sphere of free intellectual inquiry” prominent in GU’s mission statement was bouncing down the street.

Gonzaga’s abominable handling of this matter - and who would have thought it could be handled worse than the firing of the president last year? - has served only to obscure the fact that it wouldn’t have required handling at all had Fitzgerald not screwed up, and badly.

By not reporting all revenues and expenditures, Fitzgerald put the school in harm’s way with the NCAA, which demands full disclosure and lumps such transgressions under the umbrella of “lack of institutional control.” It doesn’t matter if the money was used to buy a used ballbag - a pretty good guess, since GU’s budget isn’t enough to afford a new one.

We’re persuaded NCAA rules weren’t broken willfully. We remember years ago when Fitzgerald brain-cramped and introduced a recruit at a booster luncheon - another violation. Realizing his mistake almost before the kid’s name was out of his mouth, he was on the lobby phone minutes later self-reporting this most minor of crimes to the West Coast Conference.

But, obviously, not reporting these funds to the school was willful - and more troubling. He made himself bigger than the institution, and if he couldn’t reconcile the school’s comparatively meager support for Division I athletics with his own vision, then he needed to find another school that deserved his passion.

For a man who spoke forcefully and often about doing it right, doing it that way was wrong.

And on Monday, he publicly apologized.

To Dan Fitzgerald, cheating meant paying players, not being a bad accountant, sometimes on purpose. Competitive advantage was something to be gained by watching more videotape for an opponent’s weakness.

We’ll have to see to what degree the NCAA agrees.

There are Fitzgerald loyalists out there who see the whole thing as no big deal. We don’t suggest they test the theory in their own workplaces.

That said, if the quality of Gonzaga’s education is sound, the quality of its mercy is ghastly.

For 19 years, Dan Fitzgerald dragged this school kicking and screaming into the Division I arena. He gave Gonzaga its single best athletic moment just two years ago when the Zags reached the NCAA Tournament, and generated an enthusiasm that - for better or worse - cannot be duplicated anywhere else on campus. He pushed for better facilities and got them built. He enhanced the quality of life on campus with his leadership and advocacy, and with the people he hired and the students - yeah, students - he recruited. He put the place on the map.

And the school did nothing to salvage those contributions, aside from an insulting offer of reassignment.

Could they have given him his job back and not sent a disturbing message across campus? Maybe not. But the message they sent was that two decades of tireless devotion isn’t worth squat. So who’s going to stick around that long?

This is crime and punishment, not justice.

For the hiding of money from his bosses and from the purview of auditors, that is Fitzgerald’s responsibility - and his embarrassment.

The rest is Gonzaga’s shame. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: You can contact John Blanchette by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5509.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Blanchette The Spokesman-Review