The president of California's Mater Dei High School, a Catholic prep academy whose top-ranked football team was accused of hazing in a 2020 lawsuit, steps down after less than a year in the position.
The exit of the Rev. Walter E. Jenkins has nothing to do with the allegations and to make a connection between the two would be"unfair," a spokesperson for the school said Saturday.
"There is no connection between the litigation and his departure from the school and to make such a connection is deeply unfair to Father Jenkins who served Mater Dei well during his tenure," communications director Allison Bergeron said by email.Jenkins is returning to his religious order in South Bend, Indiana, to take on a new assignment, said the superintendent for Orange County diocese schools, Erin Jenkins, in a letter to parents, students and supporters.