Former University Diversity Officer Accused of Giving Her Husband Fellowship Worth $50K

Former University Diversity Officer Accused of Giving Her Husband Fellowship Worth $50K

This is a perfect example of why we don’t need countless new bureaucrats in higher education. It gets harder and harder to track corruption.

Campus Reform reports:

CORRUPT: Ex-diversity officer smacked with massive FINE after giving husband fellowship

A former University of Connecticut graduate diversity officer was fined March 7 after awarding her husband a fellowship for which he did not apply. The announcement came just days before a college admissions scandal broke, in which dozens, including celebrities, were indicted.

The State of Connecticut Office of State Ethics fined Charmane Thurmand, a former graduate diversity officer at the University of Connecticut, $20,000 for awarding her husband a more than $50,000 fellowship for which he did not apply did not have the requisite degree.

Thurmand allegedly directed that her husband, Martinus Evans, “should not be required to do any substantive work in his graduate assistantship and instructed the DMD department that he should be paid for such assistantship simply for doing his schoolwork,” according to the State Ethics Office.

The Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board, part of the State Ethics Office, ruled that Thurmand violated the Code of Ethics’ conflict-of-interests and use-of-office sections.

The office cited Connecticut General Statutes 1-84 (c) and 1-84 (a), which respectively “prohibits a state employee from using her public position to obtain financial gain for her spouse,” and “prohibits a state employee from having a financial interest in conflict with her official duties and responsibilities,” according to the press release.

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