Chapter 10: The Hearing
The university's formal audit hearing was held on a Tuesday morning in a conference room on the third floor of the administrative building.
Ruth had told me what to expect: a panel of three administrators, a representative from the financial aid office, and Nathan and his attorney on the other side of the table.
What she had not told me — because she hadn't known — was that Nathan would look like that.
He was in a dark suit.
His hair was neat.
He sat very straight, the way people sit when they're performing composure.
His attorney, a man named Garrett, had a yellow legal pad in front of him and a careful, practiced expression.
Nathan looked at me once when I walked in.
I looked back.
Then I sat down.
The panel chair, a woman named Dr.
Osei, opened the session and outlined the scope of the hearing: the grant application, the discrepancy in household income disclosure, and the question of whether the disbursed funds had been used in accordance with the grant's stated purpose.
Garrett spoke first.
He acknowledged the discrepancy in the application but characterized it as an administrative oversight.
He stated that Nathan's spouse had been aware of the application and had not objected to the household income being listed as it was.
Dr.
Osei looked at Ruth.
Ruth set three documents on the table and slid copies to the panel.
"My client was not aware of the grant application," she said.
"She had no knowledge of it until five days after her husband handed her divorce papers at his graduation ceremony." A pause.
"What we have provided are four years of bank statements showing my client as the sole financial contributor to the household during the grant period, her tax returns confirming her employment income, and a series of transfer records showing that eleven thousand dollars from the couple's joint account — funded entirely by my client's earnings — was transferred to a third party during the same period the grant disbursements were received."
Garrett shifted in his seat.
"We also have," Ruth continued, "an email sent by Dr.
Harlow to this office three weeks ago, in which he states that his wife was aware of and consented to the grant arrangement.
We have a written statement from a witness who was present when Dr.
Harlow used the existence of a separate family debt to discourage my client from cooperating with this proceeding.
And we have a letter from Dr.
Harlow's own mother, written six months ago, confirming that the debt in question had been fully settled and was no longer owed."
The room was very quiet.
Dr.
Osei looked at Nathan.
"Dr.
Harlow," she said.
"Is there anything you'd like to say in response to these documents?"
Nathan's jaw moved.
He looked at Garrett.
Garrett leaned toward him and said something quietly.
Nathan looked back at the panel.
"I'd like to request a short recess," he said.
"Denied," Dr.
Osei said.
"We'll continue."
Garrett tried again.
"Dr.
Osei, my client—"
"Mr.
Garrett, your client submitted a grant application that misrepresented his household income by omitting a contributing spouse.
He received fourteen thousand dollars on the basis of that application.
He has now, in a written communication to this office, made a false statement about his spouse's knowledge and consent." She set down the email.
"We are not taking a recess."
Nathan's hands were flat on the table.
He didn't pick up his pen.
He didn't look at me.
"The panel will also note," Ruth said, "that my client is not here as a complainant.
She is here as a wrongly implicated party who wishes to have her name formally removed from any association with this application and its findings."
"Noted," Dr.
Osei said.
"Ms.
Callahan, your client's position is accepted.
The record will reflect that Claire Harlow had no knowledge of or participation in the grant application." She made a note.
"Dr.
Harlow, the panel will now move to its findings."
Garrett put his hand on Nathan's arm.
Nathan didn't move.
Dr.
Osei looked at him one more time.
"Dr.
Harlow," she said.
"I want to give you the opportunity to speak before we proceed.
Is there anything you want to say — not to us, but to the person sitting across from you — before this record is closed?"
The room waited.
Nathan looked at the table.
His throat moved.
"I'm sorry," he said.
It came out quietly.
Almost nothing.
I looked at him.
The man I had married.
The man I had dropped out of school for.
The man who had stood at a podium three weeks ago and accepted a degree that I had paid for with four years of my life.
I didn't say anything back.
I didn't need to.
Dr.
Osei turned back to her notes.
"The panel finds that the grant application submitted by Nathan Harlow contained material misrepresentations," she said.
"The disbursed funds will be recalled in full.
The finding will be reported to the residency program and to the state medical licensing board as required by university policy.
Dr.
Harlow's enrollment status and any associated credentials will be subject to review pending those bodies' determinations."
She closed the folder.
"This hearing is adjourned."
Nathan sat very still as the panel members gathered their papers and stood.
May you like
Garrett was already on his phone.
I picked up my bag, nodded to Ruth, and walked out.
