Search firm missed HUD link on Hale

Officials at the search firm that recommended newly-named Executive Vice President Janet Hale to the University as a candidate for the post said yesterday they did not fully investigate the details of Hale's role at HUD. Judy Vanselnik, a Diversified Search employee who worked to fill the University's executive vice president vacancy, said the firm did not check on the specifics of Hale's involvement in controversies at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development because the firm received exemplary personal recommendations from key government administrators. Hale, who served at HUD from 1981 to 1986, was a witness in the 1989 congressional investigation into mismanagement and favoritism at that department. She was questioned about her role in two HUD controversies, one which eventually cost the government several hundred million dollars. Earlier this week, many University officials including President Sheldon Hackney said they had no knowledge of Hale's HUD dealings or had only "a vague awareness" of it. And many said they simply had assumed that the search firm would not have recommended Hale if the questions surrounding her role at HUD had been substantive. Vanselnik said that American Red Cross President Elizabeth Dole personally recommended Hale for the job. Dole was Secretary of Transportation when Hale worked in the department from 1986 to 1989. Hale also received "the highest possible personal recommendation" from Richard Darman, the former director of the Office and Management and Budget under President Bush, she added. Hale was an associate director at OMB from 1989 until December. Both Dole and Darman were unavailable for comment yesterday. Vanselnik said key University officials were given a background summary that included a description of Hale's position under former-HUD Secretary Samuel Pierce. Hale was HUD's assistant deputy secretary for nine months in 1985 and 1986. "I think the people who needed to know knew that she had been at HUD and were aware that there had been some issues," Vanselnik said. Hale said yesterday that she told the firm of her dealings at HUD and her testimony before the congressional subcommittee investigating the HUD scandal. "I told [Diversified Search] that I had testified in front of Congress and that I was cooperating fully with the special prosecutor," Hale said. "You have to remember, I was a witness, not a target." Vanselnik said that Hackney spoke about Hale "extensively" with Dole and Darman prior to selecting her for the job. Vanselnik added that after Hale received such high recommendations from top government officials, the company assumed there was nothing questionable in her record. "It didn't seem important to her or anyone else we spoke to so we thought it wasn't an issue and I'm still not sure why it is an issue," she said. "We did not go get the news clippings," she added. "Many of the people we were talking to for this job were high level people who testified [before Congress] throughout their careers. It would be ridiculous to go back and look at their testimony in every single case." Vanselnik said searching through news reports and congressional records would be "a mammoth thing" and that Diversified Search relies mostly on extensive referencing in all of their searches. Vanselnik said she had never heard of the NEXIS database -- the reference resource The Daily Pennsylvanian used to find information on Hale's dealings throughout her career. She added that Diversified Search would never present a candidate whose reputation was "in a cloud" and said the firm disqualified some candidates because they were deemed too controversial. "I don't know where we went wrong here if we did go wrong here," she said. "The point is she didn't try to hide anything from anybody." Vanselnik also said that her firm assumed it could trust people who had worked so closely with the President's office and had "security clearance and all that." Hale said yesterday that it was "a pleasure" to have worked with both Dole and Darman when she worked at the Department of Transportation from 1986 to 1989 and at the Office of Management and Budget from 1989 to 1992. "Elizabeth Dole is one of the finest adminstrators I have ever worked for," Hale said. "And Dick Darman is wonderfully intelligent, able to manage complex issues and has a strong sense of public service. He is just a tremendous individual. I am honored that those individuals have such confidence in me and my abilities."

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