David Hacker, senior counsel with the religious liberty group Alliance Defending Freedom, praised the inquiry's outcome.
"America's universities should always serve as truth-seeking, free marketplaces of ideas," he said Aug. 29. "Disagreeing with a study's conclusions is not grounds for allegations of scientific misconduct; therefore, we are not surprised that those accusations were found to be baseless."
The inquiry involved significant time and effort. All data on Regnerus' computers, including e-mail and documents, were sequestered. The inquiry officials obtained his grant applications and correspondence. The university created a panel of senior faculty members to advise the inquiry process and the university retained an experienced independent consultant to monitor the inquiry.
Inquiry officials interviewed both Regnerus and Rose. The interviews were recorded and transcribed by a court reporter, Peterson's memo said.
University provost and vice president Steven W. Leslie said in an Aug. 28 memo that he accepted Peterson's conclusion that there was no evidence of misconduct.
"Consequently, this matter is closed," Leslie said.
Regnerus' initial report on his findings drew swift reaction from homosexual advocates critical of his findings. The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation criticized the researcher's report.
A group of 18 social scientists signed a statement in support of Regnerus in June. They said his research is "not without limitations" but they thought much of the criticism of him was "unwarranted."
In a June 12 interview with EWTN News, Regnerus said he began his project with "no idea what the data would reveal."
In his June announcement of the paper, the professor said his "most significant" finding "is arguably that children appear most apt to succeed well as adults when they spend their entire childhood with their married mother and father, and especially when the parents remain married to the present day."