New Jersey City University -- Fast Facts
New Jersey City University (NJCU) permitted its current President to have used fraudulent academic
credentials in the course of becoming both its Academic Vice President, and President. The NJCU Board
of Trustees knows this, but refuses to do anything about it -- even though NJCU's students fail to graduate
at the highest rate in the nation. And, there is much much more ongoing fraud at NJCU; and,
documentation will be provided upon request. If you have accessed this site to read a Star-Ledger
columnist acknowledging that NJCU President used a non-existent academic degree to become NJCU's
president, the entire "debate" has been posted on the last four pages of this document.
NJCU-GADFLY
Fast Facts -- as used on www.njcu.edu (located on NJCU's current or perspective students' site)
"The president of NJCU, along with two professors, was chosen to serve on three Governor's education
committees."
Not stated (for obvious reasons) "The President of NJCU used fraudulent academic credentials to become
president; and one of these two professors also used fraudulent academic credentials.
And: The NJCU President is the only public university president in New Jersey to hold two full-time jobs --
even though NJCU students fail to graduate at the highest rate in the nation (Google -- Carlos Hernandez
profile -- Forbes )
Please respond to the "NJCU-GADFLY" at "www.WilliamDusenberry@Yahoo.com" -- referred to in this
document as "WD"
This site will be available -- with periodic up-dates -- until an official State agency investigates the fraud
involved with Carlos Hernandez (CH) becoming New Jersey City University's (NJCU) president (the
President).
Whitman's Folly -- which follows -- is currently being developed to address to multitude of administrative
abuses that are on-going at NJCU.
In March 2008, NJCU Professor William Dusenberry (WD) received a letter, from the New Jersey
Commission of Higher Education (CHE), stating that CH had used fraudulent academic credentials in the
process of becoming NJCU's president -- and WD shared this letter -- with his fellow union members --
during his campaign to become NJCU's union president -- in May 2008. But WD lost -- by an 82 to 132 vote.
Disturbingly, the majority of NJCU faculty members failed to support WD -- assumably -- because faculty
members enjoy a conspicuous lack of supervision under the CH administration; a lack of supervision, it
should be stressed, that permits a good-many faculty to miss days, and sometimes even weeks of meeting
their classes -- without so much as being charged sick days. And dismissing classes early -- and arriving
for class late -- is the rule, certainly not the exception, at NJCU.
Therefore, many faculty members could care less -- if CH committed fraud -- as long as they can continue
to come and go as they please.
On three separate occasions (1998, 2006, 2008) the CHE informed NJCU's Board of Trustees (the Board)
that CH had used fraudulent academic credentials. The Board never formally reacted to this information --
other than to reaffirm its support for the Hernandez presidency -- by way of "a vote of full confidence in
President Hernandez" at its September 2007 meeting.
A vote for WD was supposed to have been a "vote of no confidence" in the Board; a Board that has not
only endorsed and rewarded the fraudulent use of academic credentials, but a Board that has also
refused to take any action regarding two administration-created "no show" professorships, at NJCU, that
have cost the taxpayers about $2,000,000.
But WD lost this election by an 130 to 82 vote.
The Board continues to have confidence in CH -- even though CH presides over an administration that
knowingly tolerates the highest student drop-out rate in the nation; and has allowed NJCU to become one
of the most leveraged public institutions in New Jersey.
The current Union leadership (and, perhaps, more disturbingly, the NJCU Senate) refuses to do anything
to protect whistleblowing members of their Union. A vote for WD was supposed to have sent the clear
message to the Union: that it should protect and encourage whistleblowers. But WD lost the election by
an 130 to 82 vote.
Both the Dean of Arts and Sciences, and the Academic Vice President , were (are) aware that CH used
fraudulent academic credentials -- yet neither did anything about it. A vote for WD was to have indicated
that this type of "dereliction of duty" needs to be addressed by a responsible Board of Trustees. But WD
lost the election an 130 to 82 vote.
65 or so faculty members had been promoted illegally -- without the required PhD. These illegal
promotions -- besides being demoralizing to a good number of those who had earned PhD's -- have cost
the taxpayers somewhere in the $20,000,000 range-- and with retirements, this figure will grow significantly
in the future. And because all of these 65 illegal promotions -- were received by Union members -- it's
surprising that WD received any votes whatsoever -- besides his own that is.
In December 2007, CH sent the faculty an e-mail stating that he had been elected the chairman of the
American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Then on January 1, 2008, the Star-Ledger noted
that Dr. Peter Bernham, the Chairman of the Middle States Commission of Higher Education, would be re-
accrediting NJCU in the fall of 2008. And even though Dr. Bernham was sent a certified letter putting him
on notice that CH had obtained his position due to the fraudulent use of academic credentials, NJCU was
re-accredited nonetheless (Interestingly, CH also works, part time, for Middle States).
WD made an appointment (January 18, 2008) to visit Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan, the Chairman of the
New Jersey Assembly Higher Education Committee. WD asked for the opportunity to testify before the
Higher Education Committee about: (1) the fraudulent use of academic credentials by CH, and (2) the fact
that whistleblower complaints are heard, at NJCU, by those who caused the "whistle having to be blown"
in the first place. Assemblyman Diegnan said he'd "look into these charges" and that he "would get back
to WD."
Then, disturbingly, on January 23, 2008, WD received a call from the New Jersey Attorney General's Office
notifying him that he was the object of a complaint. NJCU Professor Good, at the age of 40 or so, had
"married" a 12-year-old Venezuelan child; WD had objected to such a marriage while teaching his classes,
and now WD was required to go to Trenton for an "Interview." Based on this transparent attempt to
intimidate (silence?) him, WD filed a grievance, with NJCU's union, on 02/11/08.
Introduction to Whitman’s Folly (Background)
The NJCU-GADFLY has been established to provide those who have had unsatisfactory experiences with
former Governor Whitman’s “Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994” (HERA) with the opportunity
share this information with the general public. It is hoped that employees, from the public institutions of
higher education in New Jersey, will contribute to this effort, and that these collective “unsatisfactory
experiences” will eventually become: Whitman’s Folly – Ways in which the Higher Education Restructuring
Act of 1994 Have Failed.
There is some good and bad news that should be noted prior to reading Whitman’s Folly.
The good news: (for CH, that is) is that the NJCU Board of Trustees has increased CH's salary -- from the
$140,000, when he began in 1995 -- to the $280,000 he is earning presently (plus a $56,000 annual housing
allowance and the full use of a $50,000 Infinity) automobile). Additionally: he has the unsupervised use of
an American Express Card; and, it appears, access to NJCU’s Development fund.
To supplement his income, CH "acquired" a Directorship position with Provident Financial (Google, Carlos
Hernandez -- profile. Forbes) and, in that capacity has earned more than he has as NJCU's president. And
in 2001, CH was appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Education; and in December 2007, he became
the chairman of the AASCU.
The bad news: during each year of CH’s administration, the student drop-out rate at NJCU
(www.collegeresults.org) has been the highest in the nation; and, in October 2007, the New Jersey
Commission of Investigation released an announcement (which appeared in the press that NJCU was one
of the most leveraged educational institutions of higher education in the country. The drop-out rate
(known as at NJCU as the “educational-gentrification policy”) it should be pointed out, is one of the most
objective assessment methods for evaluating the effectiveness of an administration.
In order to solicit contributions to Whitman’s Folly, the www.NJCU-GADFLY.com will be advertised in
publications such as the Star-Ledger, the Bergen Record, the Jersey Journal, the Hudson County Reporter,
student newspapers, and as many alumni publications as financial resources permit. Visitors to this web-
site, who might want to support the effort to publish Whitman’s Folly , and who might also like to make a
donation toward the publication of Whitman’s Folly, are encouraged to do so by purchasing
advertisements for www.NJCU-GADFLY.com in publications of their choice.
For the purpose of simplification and brevity, it should be noted that NJCU was known as Jersey City State
College (JCSC) until 1998. For Whitman’s Folly, however, practically all references to JCSC will be as NJCU.
And, unless otherwise noted, everything can be documented.
Whitman’s Folly
If former New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman ever runs for public office again, one of the things she
won’t want to take any credit for is New Jersey’s “Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994” (HERA) -- at
least that’s what a visitor to her biography found at www.google.com: “Whitman” might conclude;
Whitman's profile makes absolutely no mention of the HERA -- perhaps with good reason.
As one of her first official acts as governor, Whitman (President Bush’s Director of the Environmental
Protection Agency, 2001-2003) decided to grant almost complete autonomy to every public institution of
higher education in New Jersey. “Local control” (trustees, appointed by the governor, would be in
complete control of each public institution of higher learning) was legislated with the intention of
eliminating the State bureaucracy (aka - oversight) in regard to every public college and university in New
Jersey.
Autonomy was also supposed to increase efficiency as administrative decision-making was turned over to
each institution’s board of trustees. This was all done as part of Governor Whitman’s effort to implement
one of the Republican Party’s major goals -- reducing the size of state government bureaucracies.
Whitman’s likely assumptions: Because boards of trustees were appointed by the governor, this group
would be responsive to, and guided by: (1) the basic principles of common decency, and (2) generally
established codes of ethics; and (3) guidelines legitimized by New Jersey statutes and constitutional law.
And while Governor Whitman might have had the best of intentions for establishing institutional
autonomy, many of the results suggest otherwise. As Thomas Sowell, a fellow at the Hoover Institute has
put it: “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting
those decisions in the hands of people (boards of trustees) who pay no price for being wrong.”
Background
In the spring of 1972, advertisements for candidates for the NJCU presidency were placed in a wide
variety of newspapers; one of the requirements being: “must agree to move to, and reside in Jersey City.”
After going through the motions of a so-called nation-wide search, the Board announced: “NJCU Dean of
Arts and Science, William Maxwell, EdD (WM) had been selected to be its new president.” Few, if any, of
these generally apathetic faculty were surprised by this Board decision. The only thing WM needed to do,
in order to comply with the posted requirements for this presidency, was to move to, and reside in, Jersey
City.
WM had carefully cultivated the impression that he was a civil rights activist with expertise in African
American history; therefore many faculty members assumed that WM would have no objections to moving
to Jersey City. After all, the “cloistered socioeconomic environment” of Teaneck, New Jersey (where WM
lived at the time of the presidential search) didn’t project the “integrationist image” that the Board, it
appeared, was attempting to convey. This “move the new NJCU President to Jersey City” was intended to
deflect and minimize criticism that the Board had anticipated – had anticipated, that is, if that Board
selected just another in the long list of “white males” who had totally monopolized the presidency of NJCU
until that time.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s not difficult to understand why the Board showed little concern with
violating New Jersey Statutes. For example, when the Board announced, in April 1973, that there would be
a nation-wide search to replace NJCU President James Mullen (1968-1973) many senior faculty members
expressed the view that the Board had already decided who was to be the next NJCU president -- and that
this nation-wide search would be a search in name only.
But, in any event, WM refused to move to Jersey City. He refused to move to Jersey City even though
NJCU had recently purchased and totally refurbished a magnificent home located just a mile from the
NJCU campus (cost in the $500,000 range). This home, which had served the previous President
satisfactorily throughout the five years of his presidency – a home that was frequently used in conjunction
with a variety of formal and informal NJCU Presidential functions – this “presidential home” was unsuitable
for President-select WM.
WM was made NJCU's president nonetheless. WM could, apparently, “talk the talk,” but not “walk the walk”
associated with actually living in an “all-inclusive, culturally-diverse” community such as Jersey City. WM
had young children at the time, and his refusal to move to Jersey City was interpreted by many as an
attempt to protect these children from catching the so-called “city disease.”
Accept, for the sake of discussion, the possibility that the Board might have had some sort of insider
information about WM’s extraordinary potential to lead NJCU -- but that the faculty had no indication
whatsoever that WM had such potential. This makes it difficult to understand why the faculty did not
object, in any manner whatsoever, to the Board’s apparent duplicity in the selection of WM.
But it was the Board itself that wanted the new president to live in Jersey City; so why, one might
reasonably ask, would the Board establish, and then ignore, its own established residency requirement?
Unless, that is, the Board had decided to make WM NJCU’s new president long before the position was
even posted – but had somehow failed to check with WM about how he felt about having to actually live in
Jersey City -- prior to making that a requirement for the NJCU presidency.
In retrospect, however, it now appears obvious that the Board was not really interested in finding the best
possible candidate for the NJCU presidency. Dean of Arts and Sciences, WM, had no experience, either as
a president, or a vice president, and his educational accomplishments, as dean, lackluster at best – if
there were actually any educational accomplishments at all, that is.
Little, if anything, was accomplished during WM's tenure as dean that might have suggested the possibility
that he had any presidential potential whatsoever. In other words, in a presidential candidate field
crowded with highly qualified, seasoned professionals to choose from, that the Board selected one of
NJCU’s own (Maxwell was not only a NJCU graduate (‘58), but a classmate of the Board Chairman, and was
the dean of arts and sciences, at that time) raised obvious and serious concerns in regard to “good-old-
boy-ism” cronyism, and nepotism.
“Maxwell House” becomes a “Maxwell/Hernandez House”
In the first year of the Maxwell Administration (1974), Ansley La Mar (Dean of Arts and Sciences 1994-2002)
and current NJCU President CH were hired due to WM’s personal “recommendation.” Interestingly,
neither La Mar, nor CH, had the MA that was required to be a college instructor at that time. These
questionable hires (remember, arranged for and recommended by WM) apparently unnoticed at the time,
are now highly significant -- in light of what has taken place at NJCU during the past 40 years.
In 1979, President WM most likely instructed CH to begin amending his name with a non-existent master’s
degree -- there is little to suggest, or otherwise indicate, that CH could have concocted this scheme on
his own. “Carlos Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Psychology – Assistant to the President – City
University of New York, BA, MA” was the notation in the 1981 NJCU Catalogue. (Each of the 1975--1980
NJCU Catalogues listed CH with only a BA).
The problem with CH’s extraordinarily rise, in the academic and administrative ranks at NJCU, was that CH
was never awarded the MA that he used for these promotions. Yet the Board approved WM's
recommendations, in this deceptive scheme, nonetheless! Who was responsible for verifying academic
credentials during this time? Did CH add this fraudulent, non-existent MA to his personnel file? Or did it
appear in his file miraculously? An academic audit of CH’s AVP application and his Human Resources
resume’ might provide the answer to this question.
So, either WM had duped the Board in regard to CH's credentials, or the Board was a co-conspirator, with
WM, in this fraud.
CH’s non-existent MA placed him on the express track up the administrative ladder at NJCU. Never
before, in the school’s history, had an individual handled so many different administrative assignments in
such a short period of time.
In 1981, CH became an Assistant to the President; the next year he was promoted to Executive Assistant to
the President (1982 Catalogue). In 1983, he was again promoted, this time to a newly created “provost”
position -- an assignment to supervise faculty – most of whom had doctorates -- and Provost CH had only a
bachelor’s degree. And, interestingly, NJCU never had a “provost” either before or since CH held that
position. The following year CH became the Academic Vice President (AVP; 1984 Catalogue). But search as
you might, you'll never be able to identify anything at all that CH was given credit for during his
extraordinary, resume enhancing, rise through the administrative ranks.
The AVP position usually required a PhD, and required the supervision of PhD’s. But CH had only a BA
(additional information requested from Board members who might have inadvertently taken part in this
deceptive process). All too often board members go along with whatever the Administration proposes.
And, if the board chairman does not raise any questions, the rest of the board simply rubber-stamps the
entire agenda without comment.
WM, however, had already demonstrated the Board’s receptiveness to appointing a PhD-less AVP -- when
he arranged, in collaboration with the Board, for NJCU Professor Hans Held to become his AVP. Held, a
professor of political science had only a MA.
There were the usual faculty objections to the Professor Held appointment, but like most criticisms of the
Administration, they amounted to nothing. Criticism, after all, invited promotional and class scheduling
“difficulties.”
Some faculty members had objected to Professor Held because of his “interesting” background – that as a
Panzer commander with the infamous 6th German Army that was captured during the World War II Battle of
Stalingrad. A number of faculty, administrators, and staff members, had personal recollections of the
actions of the German Army during World War II, and some of them expressed “displeasure” with the Held
appointment; but the Board approved it nonetheless.
WM, it appeared, admired Held’s authoritarian administrative style; after all, Held did what a good AVP is
supposed to do -- keep discontented faculty members from bothering the President with their trivial
inconsequential issues. But most importantly, Held had only a MA degree, and WM was establishing an
AVP precedent; WM, it appeared, had been laying the groundwork so that a “PhD-less” CH could
eventually become the AVP.
When WM had made Hans Held his first AVP, he had successfully established the precedent of having an
AVP with only an MA. And when, after the retirement of AVP Held, CH was unable to acquire an MA -- at the
time he need this MA degree in order to be placed on the same academic degree par as former AVP Held
-- this non-existent MA appeared in his personnel file, unquestioned by the faculty at NJCU. And the
Board went along with, and “rubber-stamped” this rather unique, but nevertheless illegal, scheme.
The Board had rubber-stamped the Held, MA. AVP appointment, so everything appeared to be in place for
the soon-to-come CH, MA, AVP arrangement. WM had a well thought out long-term retirement plan and
nothing as insignificant as a lack of academic qualifications would be allowed to stand in its way.
A review of the NJCU catalogues, for the years prior to CH becoming the AVP, and for the years between
becoming AVP until the year 2000, demonstrate CH’s on-going use of a non-existent MA degree (20 years).
As a matter of fact, when CH was inaugurated as President, his Biographical Sketch (contained in his
Inauguration Booklet) noted: “Dr. Hernandez received his Bachelor of Arts degree from York College and
his Master of Arts from the City University of New York.” CH, it needs to be re-emphasized, never
received a MA from the City University of New York. And New Jersey Statute law, Higher Education 9:1-7.2
(Fraudulent Academic Degrees) in no ambiguous language states: “A person shall not utilize or append to
his name any academic degree designation as evidence of the receipt of an academic degree unless the
person has received the academic degree.”
In the year 2000, President CH was compelled, as a direct consequence of information I provided to the
CHE, to remove his non-existent MA from the NJCU Catalogue. In order for this to be accomplished,
approximately 30,000 just-printed, but yet to be delivered, NJCU catalogues had to be destroyed -- at a
cost to the taxpayers of approximately $70,000.
Imagine -- in order to reprint all of the year 2000 NJCU catalogues, with two little letters “MA”, deleted, the
NJ taxpayers were compelled to shell-out about $70,000. But it cost individual Board members, or any
NJCU administrators, nothing -- the matter was simply swept under the rug – until now, that is (thanks to
the anonymous caller who provided the general suggestion of what happened in this “catalogue-scam”).
In response to my demand for an investigation of CH’s fraudulent use of academic credentials, I was
informed, by the CHE, that Hernandez “completed all academic requirements and was eligible to apply for
a master’s in 1980 but apparently did not do so. “NJCU reports that the error in the university’s catalogue
has been corrected.”
The CHE's acceptance of the "Completed all academic requirements...and he was eligible to apply for a
master's in 1980 but apparently did not do so" excuse is inexcusable. Besides "completing all academic
requirements" CH was required to have passed a comprehensive examination; and to submit a major
research project. CH knew that if he failed one or both or these requirements for a MA, that he would
likely be dropped from the doctoral program in which he was enrolled. After all, how can a student be
denied a MA, then later awarded a PhD? The fraudulent use of a MA became an imperative -- if then
President Maxwell was going to hand-pick his successor. The die had been cast -- and as of May 2009,
Maxwell and Hernandez appear to have gotten away with this fraud.
The CHE’s correspondence with me was a classic example of a letter that should never have been
written. What purpose could this letter possibly have served other than to confirm, by a State official, that
Hernandez was, in fact, using a fraudulent academic degree?
It was now perfectly clear that State officials were aware of CH’s use of a fraudulent degree -- and had
collectively decided not to do anything about it -- deciding to cover it up instead. And, for whatever it's
worth, I don’t think that the CHE made any decision about what to do (or not do in this particular case)
about CH’s use of a fraudulent academic degree -- without consulting with Governor Whitman’s Office.
The NJCU Board Chairman received a copy of the CHE’s letter -- and did nothing about it; he didn’t even
place it on an agenda for discussion with the rest Board (just how routine it is for NJCU’s Board Chairman
to decide on matters, by himself – in violation of the “sunshine law” -- will be addressed in the completed
version of Whitman’s Folly).
The CHE was questioned about this “cover-up-suggesting-acceptance” (Governor’s Office
“recommendation” likely in this case) of what was, according to the CHE, an “on-going-20-year-
typographical-error” -- but there was no response.
Apropos to this issue, I received a letter from New Jersey Senate President Di Francesco (1996) in which
he noted: “As you are undoubtedly aware, the HERA was the final statutory enactment which made New
Jersey’s state colleges and universities completely independent. The Board of Trustees of the respective
colleges, including Jersey City State, is the final decision makers on virtually all issues affecting their
college.”
In other words, according to Senate President Di Francisco, yes, there might be fraud, and yes, this fraud
might be in violation of New Jersey Statute law, but if this fraud has the approval of the Board, nothing, it
appears, will be done about it – even if it occurred prior to the passage of the HERA. This response was
as intolerable then, as it continues to be, now. Laws are on the books that won’t be enforced, and the
NJCU Union and faculty continued with business as usual. But by now, everything you are reading had
become common knowledge at NJCU.
* * *
Shortly before the end of the 1983 spring semester, a NJCU Faculty “AVP Search Committee” was elected
by the faculty (25 out of 300 faculty bothered to vote in this election). Six months later, this Search
Committee narrowed the AVP candidate pool ,of about 200 AVP candidates, down to a group of ten
finalists; and these names were subsequently submitted to then President WM.
The 1983-84 academic year began with the usual “all-college meeting” during which President WM – in
front of those faculty members assembled -- berated the AVP Search Committee for failing to include CH in
the group of ten finalists.
Reflect on these circumstances: CH, who had worked for four years as an assistant to WM, could not even
make the list of the ten finalists for the AVP position. Then consider WM’s condemnation of the search
committee (which I understand, became aware that CH was using a non-existent MA) for failing to place CH
on the AVP list, simply because he had never done anything that anyone knew of to demonstrate any
potential to be an effective chief administrator.
CH had never held any previous administrative position, whatsoever -- before WM placed him on the
express track to succeed him as NJCU’s president. WM, it appears, had sought out an individual (CH in
this case) with no demonstrated administrative ambition (CH had never even been chairman of the
psychology department) in order that he (WM) could continue to make the major policy decisions at NJCU
-- even after he eventually retired and had arranged to have himself designated “President Emeritus.”
But WM was not to be deterred, in any way, due to the lack of support, for CH, by the AVP Faculty Search
Committee. WM proceeded to recommended CH, BA; MA (non-existent) to the Board to become the AVP
nonetheless. Neither the faculty, nor the Union, or anyone else who had taken part this insulting display
of WM’s administrative arrogance, said nor did anything else to try to prevent the continuation of this
farce.
WM, it might be worthwhile to point out at this time, was a product of the Jersey City Public Schools, and
was, in all probability, strongly influenced by the “I am the law” political ideology of nationally recognized,
long-term Jersey City Mayor, Frank Hague. During his tenure as NJCU’s president, WM exercised an “I am
the law” type of control of the NJCU Board, the NJCU College Senate, the AFT, and any college
committees, ad hoc or otherwise, that might be an obstacle to any of his administrative or personal
machinations. And a good deal of the information in Whitman’s Folly supports this speculation. WM had
schooled his protégé CH to exercise a similar “I am the law” administrative philosophy; the only problem
was that CH lacked WM’s ruthless ambition, charisma, and authoritarian personality.
Back to the “Maxwell scheme.”
All of these NJCU faculty, most with the impressive academic credentials of “Doctors of Philosophy” –
experienced at giving pontifical discourses about all sorts of ethical and moral issues, both foreign and
domestic – these faculty would not protest an injustice, even when it directly involved them – even when
it took place right under their noses. None of this holier-than-thou, self-righteous faculty did anything,
because, to do so, might have caused them difficulties with their promotions and/or schedules. And,
predictably, the Board went along with WM’s plan.
When the Board approved WM’s recommendation of CH to be the new AVP, NJCU became the only public
institution of higher education in the entire nation to have an AVP with nothing other than a bachelor's
degree. And when the Board approved of CH’s extraordinary elevation to the academically critical position
of AVP, either the Board was aware of CH’s nonexistent MA, or WM was guilty of submitting CH’s
fraudulent application to the Board.
But either way, when the Board was informed by the CHE of CH’s use of fraudulent academic credentials
(the first time I was able to factually establish that the Board was aware of CH’s fraudulent use of academic
credentials) the Board did absolutely nothing; the letter from the CHE was not even placed on the Board’s
agenda for discussion at a public meeting.
The Board Chairman had most likely violated the New Jersey “sunshine law” in this case, but violating the
“sunshine law” had, by this time at least, probably become a rather routine procedure; this usually
happens when a board violates the “sunshine law” frequently enough without any objections. And if a
university faculty won’t protest an injustice of this magnitude, under what circumstances can one expect a
protest to originate? Administrative arrogance is not really that hard to understand -- when the issue of
faculty apathy and indifference is the norm.
As AVP, a position obtained due to academic credential fraud, CH was not only beholden to President WM
(known at NJCU as CH’s “Godfather”) but to anyone else who happened to be privy to this illegal activity
(Union leadership in particular).
.
Might off-campus “social events” explain some of "this"?
President CH, while in his position as AVP, permitted sociology professor Rashmi Mayur (a NJCU
Administration-recognized “exemplary faculty member”) to be released from the bulk of his teaching
responsibilities between 1984 and 1989 (WM had arranged for Mayur to be released from most of his
faculty responsibilities from the time he became President in 1974, until 1985, and this practice not only
continued during CH’s entire tenure as an AVP, but for the first six years into his presidency. Mayur’s “no-
show” assignment, with NJCU, ended when he was forced into retirement in the spring of 2001, as a direct
consequence of Paul Mulshine’s columns in the Star-Ledger.
The cost to the taxpayer, for permitting Mayur to be a long-term “no-show,” was in the three million dollar
range. Mayur received approximately $70,000 per year ($125,000 in today's dollars) in retirement-related
benefits for the years he was “credited with” as having spent at NJCU. And, according to the NJ Attorney
General’s Office, absolutely nothing can be done about it. If the Board approved Mayur’s “no-show”
position, on the recommendations of Presidents WM and CH, there’s nothing more that can be done. And
the Union says it couldn't’t do anything because “it’s not covered in the contract.” Mayur 's “no-show”
arrangement was in place prior to the “HERA” of 1994 -- so prosecution is possible in this regard.
The readers of Whitman’s Folly might be curious as to why NJCU permitted Mayur to obtain his “no-show”
job in the first place. And this completely understandable curiosity will be addressed using the
circumstantial evidence available. Hopefully, however, based on information provided by NJCU
administrators, due to the establishment of www.NJCU-GADFLY.com the possibility exists that a more
accurate account of Mayur’s no-show” arrangement will be provided in the final version of Whitman’s
Folly. In the meantime, I’ll try to do my best to provide you with the speculative background details of this
uniquely convoluted arrangement (Mayur’s no-show).
In 1985, shortly after CH became AVP, Mayur applied for promotion to full professor -- even though his own
academic department refused to support his application for this promotion -- because -- it “didn’t have any
idea what Mayur was supposed to be doing, or where he was supposed to be doing it.” And remember,
this was back in the mid 1980’s!
Nevertheless, AVP CH, and then President WM, arranged, with the Board, to have Mayur promoted to full
professor -- the objections of his own department meant nothing in this regard. Mayur, as was previously
noted, was released from most of his teaching responsibilities from 1974 on – at full pay. And then, during
the decade of the 1990’s, was assigned no faculty responsibilities whatsoever – at full pay.
The several million dollars in salary and benefits paid to Mayur, during the 1980’s and 1990’s, resulted in
absolutely no benefits to: NJCU, the citizens of New Jersey, or anyone else in the United States for that
matter. An investigation, by the Office of the New Jersey Inspector General (OIG), “revealed that Professor
Mayur received a salary of between $60,000-$70,000 per year for nearly a ten year period (1990-2001),
during which he delivered only one lecture on campus, September 3, 1995.
“One lecture on campus” – pathetic; yet as hard as it might be for you, the reader, to believe, even this
supposed Mayur lecture – the one referred to in the OIG’s letter -- was a fabrication.
Imagine: the only thing NJCU was able to point out to an official investigative body (the OIG), was that
Mayur was supposed to have done from 1990 until 2001, at NJCU, was to deliver one lecture on September
3, 1995 -- and this lecture never took place.
September 3, 1995, was the Sunday before Labor Day, and the NJCU fall semester began on September 5,
1995. Had the OIG taken the time to investigate the allegation of this purported lecture, it would have
discovered that the Mayur lecture was neither scheduled nor presented. NJCU was still closed for the
summer vacation.
Here is outright fraud, the theft of public monies, and lying to an official investigative agency -- but no
action was taken whatsoever. And our Union did nothing; and neither did the Board. I’m sorry, I should not
have said that the Board didn’t do anything, it did. The Board approved this monumental rip-off of the
taxpayers and the tuition-paying students.
At this point it might be interesting to speculate (based on convincingly strong circumstantial evidence it
should be noted) that the likely reason the Union took no action about Mayur was because of the “extreme
leftist political inclinations” of the Union leadership.
During the entire decade of the 1990’s (during which time Mayur never appeared on the NJCU campus)
Mayur was aggressively speaking out against the policies of the United States. According to Mayur
(quoted in the Star-Ledger) “Unless people of the world comprehend the grave nature of the doom
awaiting our future, the U.S. will achieve its hoped-for world domination…There is a jungle in the world
with the United States as the flagrant violator of the norms of the international law and treaties acting as
policeman for the world. The United States and its ally pose a threat to peace and security to all of the
defenseless people of the world.”
The taxpayers of New Jersey were paying for this anti-American propaganda, (thanks to the Board and
Presidents WM and CH) and these extreme anti-American views received the collaborative endorsement
of the Union leadership. However, the majority of the rank and file Union members (those who rarely, if
ever, attend meetings) could probably get away with the time-honored excuse: “I didn’t know what the
Union was doing, or not doing for that matter, about Mayur.”
In 1989, AVP Hernandez recommended that Mayur to replace the recently retired Dr. Peterson as the
Director of NJCU’s East-West Institute -- with an operational (non-salaried) budget of $100,000. This
position was not posted, nor were any other applicants interviewed for this position. And President WM
and the Board went along with Vice President CH's “recommendation.”
The $100,000 East-West Institute budget was squandered (vanished) -- with absolutely no accountability or
any evidence of academic/administrative value to NJCU whatsoever. The speculation about what might
have happened to at least a portion of this $100,000 is that the President and several VP’s participated in a
junket to Seoul, South Korea. Perhaps a portion of this $100,000 might have been used for this
academically worthless project (if it’s difficult for you to accept the fact that university leaders would
participate in a totally useless junket, just try to find a report or any recommendations resulting from this
Seoul, Korea excursion). But what happened to the rest of this $100,000 remains a mystery – a mystery at
least to the faculty members I have talked to about this unaccounted-for money, that is.
But back, briefly, to Dr. Peterson. Dr. Peterson had become acquainted with Mayur from the brief
encounters they had during the late 1960’s. Peterson realized, from the infrequent Social Science
Department involvement he had with Mayur, that it would probably be the end of the East-West Institute
once Mayur was put in charge of it (if you get the chance, ask President CH why Mayur, who had absolutely
no administrative experience, was “selected” for this assignment).
Dr. Peterson’s assessment of Mayur was promptly proved correct in this regard. The “East-West” Institute,
under Mayur’s directorship, quite literally vanished -- along with all traces of its $100,000 budget. (Again, I
must remind the reader, President WM and AVP CH were, perhaps, the only people at NJCU during this
time who might have known where Mayur actually was).
But, as usual, there were no questions from any administrator at NJCU regarding this misuse of NJCU
funds. And the Board? How many Board members participated in this junket?
Is it possible that Mayur's no-show position had anything to do with the fact that he was a "personal"
friend of President WM? Is it a coincidence that Mayur and WM shared adjacent office space in the now
defunct Social Sciences Department? Do both of these coincidences have anything to do with the
possibility that Mayur and WM attended numerous off-campus, non-college-related “social events”
together? And is it possible that Mayur took some photographs at these “social events”?
And should the fact that former President WM and NJCU Board Chairman Moore were NJCU classmates
have to be considered when assessing these administrative machinations?
Could any of these coincidences have had any bearing on Mayur being permitted to begin “phasing-out”
his “career” at NJCU, almost 30-years ago, with a ten-year, semester-on, semester-off, position (1979-1990;
pay arrangement needs to be determined by an audit) followed by a ten-year “no-show” position (1990-
2001--at full pay)? How many coincidences of this nature can the NJCU faculty or any official investigative
agency tolerate without demanding some sort of an official investigation? And Mayur would have
probably continued to be a full-time faculty member at NJCU until he supposedly died -- if it were not for
Paul Mulshine’s columns in the Star-Ledger.
August 1, 1999, marks the day when Professor Mayur, as an example of administrative arrogance and
malfeasance at NJCU, became a matter of public concern. On that day Star-Ledger columnist Paul Mulshine
devoted his entire column to an expose of Mayur’s “no-show” status at NJCU; so some assumed that
Mayur’s unorthodox career at NJCU was over. But, in a conspicuous display of the NJCU Board’s
arrogance, nothing whatsoever was done about Mayur’s “no-show” status at NJCU.
No one though, it appeared, seemed to care about the public exposure of Mayur’s “no-show” employment
relationship with NJCU. Not: the Union, the Governor, any elected official, the NJCU Faculty Senate, the NJ
Faculty Affair’s Committee, the Public Employee’s Relations Commission, the FBI, the United States
Department of Education, the NJ Attorney General’s Office, or the Hudson County Prosecutor. And as hard
as it might be to believe, not even NJCU’s Ethics Committee expressed any concern about Mayur’s “no-
show” status. After all, the Ethics Committee was inactive – unless given instructions to go into action by
the Administration. And it would have been ridiculous to expect the Administration (based on what you
now know, that is) to have asked the Ethics Committee to take action in regard of an Administration-
sanctioned “no-show” position. I only raised the question of the Ethics Committee possibly being
concerned with a “no-show” position in a rhetorical manner.
Every organization with any sort of official investigative capability said something on the order of:
“Mayur's ‘no-show’ status was not their responsibility;” and while all of these investigative agencies (with
the notable exception of the NJ Attorney General; this office informed me that it was its responsibility to
defend NJCU against any charges of permitting a “no-show” position) agreed that something should be
done, none would direct me to any other agency whose responsibility it was react to a complaint involving
a “no-show” at a State institution.
Interestingly, even though it was the Board that bore the ultimate responsibility for authorizing Mayur’s
“no-show” arrangement, Mayur never became a matter of open discussion at NJCU and/or never officially
appeared on a Board agenda. And while it’s more than likely that the Board discussed the Mayur issue in a
closed session, such a discussion would have been a direct violation of the sunshine law.
The NJCU Union never discussed Mayur, nor did the NJCU Senate. Imagine; the largest newspaper in the
State features four highly incriminating columns directly involving administrative malfeasance at NJCU --
written by this newspaper’s most widely-read journalist, and absolutely no formal discussion of these
columns ever takes place at NJCU; no discussion that the faculty and/or public ever became aware of, that
is.
Mayur’s “no-show” assignment never was on any NJCU agenda -- even though President CH sent a letter
to the faculty with the implausible (laughable; insulting; incredible; Board-generated – how some faculty
described CH’s letter) explanation that Mayur was “under his personal supervision” while he was living
abroad. According to the Star-Ledger, “NJCU officials have stated in print that during his time in India,
Mayur worked 50 to 60 hours a week under the direct supervision of university President CH."
CH’s letter to the faculty was intended to deflect the responsibility for Mayur’s “no-show” status away from
the Board, and on to the NJCU Administration (self-sacrifice, by CH, how honorable. What assurances did
the Board give CH to take all of the heat for the fraud involving Mayur?). And although a good many NJCU
faculty and administrators knew about Mayur’s “no-show” arrangement, no one chose to do anything
about it -- except me-- and I was punished for doing so.
As a consequence of the four columns in the Star-Ledger, Governor Whitman’s office directed the New
Jersey Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to investigate the Mayur “no-show” allegations.
The letter, I received from the OIG, stated that the OIG: “was able to confirm most of the facts I offered
and, more importantly, to substantiate the core of my allegation that Professor Mayur had what essentially
was a no-show professorship at a State institution of higher learning. Chairman Moore advised the OIG
that the trustees were aware of, and approved, Professor Mayur’s assignment. President Hernandez’s
interview and NJCU Board Chairman Mr. Moore’s comment were significant because they negate any basis
for instituting criminal charges, such as theft by deception or official misconduct.” (letter available)
New Jersey laws, as theses laws are presently constituted, (thanks to then Governor Whitman – to whom
Whitman's Folly will be dedicated) prevent prosecution of Mayur, President Hernandez, former President
Maxwell, or the Board. The Office of the Inspector General “cannot take enforcement action against
anyone “because this conduct was authorized by the University” And the Union did, and continues to do,
absolutely nothing about this theft of public monies -- authorized directly by the Board.
To give the reader some additional insight into NJCU’s “public-be-damned” handling of the Mayur case, it
should be noted that Mayur was nominated for “Faculty Emeritus” status in the fall of 2000 -- only to
become the first faculty member in NJCU’s history to be denied this distinction (Faculty Emeritus) by a
group of his peers.
That a faculty committee (Faculty Emeritus Committee) actually defied the NJCU President went against the
routine practice that NJCU faculty committees had of rubber-stamping practically everything the President
wanted them to do.
My speculation: President CH most likely realized that granting Mayur “Faculty Emeritus” status would be
far too much for even the docile NJCU faculty to take, so he, most likely, instructed the Faculty Emeritus
Committee to deny Mayur this formal, never-before-denied, recognition.
It might be interesting to speculate about how difficult it might have been for the Faculty Emeritus
Committee to reject Mayur for this honor -- if CH had not instructed them to do so. After all, President CH,
in his October 1999 letter to the entire faculty stated “Since 1994, at my direction, Professor Mayur has
performed valuable services while on administrative assignment for the University. He has used his
extensive contacts in the world community to further the University’s plan to internationalize the
curriculum. Because of his efforts, NJCU has developed significant relationships with a number of foreign
universities.”
A review of Mayur’s web-site: http://www.panjokutch.com/Rashm. indicates that he had far more
“publications” than any other faculty member in the history of NJCU; If you don’t happen to be from the
Asian sub-continent, however, (and even if you were) it’s unlikely that you have ever heard of any of these
“publications.”
Mayur’s job responsibilities were an ongoing source of amusement for the faculty members who were
aware of his supposed relationship with NJCU. It’s well known that faculty members can be awarded
unpaid and sabbatical leaves; but a paid ten-year unsupervised leave? At NJCU this became known as
getting “Rashmied” or – getting paid a full salary for doing nothing The taxpayers 's of New Jersey should
demand to find out just how many other New Jersey colleges grant “Rashmies” to their faculty members.
But in the interest of fairness, just ask President Hernandez to review the evidence of Mayur’s
contributions to NJCU referred to in his letter to the faculty. The OIG wanted to see this evidence and the
only thing the NJCU Administration could tell the OIG was that Mayur had given one lecture between 1990
and 2000 -- a lecture, that as you will recall, was never given.
What information might President Hernandez make available to you about Mayur? If Hernandez shows you
anything in support of Mayur’s contributions to NJCU (make sure he “shows” you instead of “tells” you)
please notify WD-- you might eventually get to see those materials in Whitman’s Folly. But then, I
respectfully ask you, why would President CH show you any evidence of Mayur possibly contributing to
NJCU -- when CH was not able to show any such evidence to the Office of the Inspector General?
President Hernandez compromised????
A reasonable assumption might be that AVP CH was “compromised” (blackmailed? – remember those on
the AVP Search Committee, and the Union leadership, were aware that CH had obtained his position due to
the falsification of his academic credentials, and all of those search committee members and Union
officials have since been promoted – some several times – under the CH administration) when it came to
abiding by the contractual promotional procedures at NJCU.
For example, as previously noted, in 1985 AVP CH (whose responsibilities included the verification of
academic credentials) permitted Bohdan Yaworsky, a member of the Criminal Justice Department (another
Administration-recognized “exemplary faculty member”) to begin amending his name with a non-existent
doctoral degree. This fraud permitted Yaworsky (coincidently, hired as a result of former President WM’s
personal recommendation) to be promoted to associate professor in 1992, and in 1999, promoted to full
professor.
In June 2003, Yaworsky, in the midst of a statewide budget crunch, was awarded a range adjustment that
increased his full professor’s salary six percent above what other full professors obtained as an
increment. And in the fall of 2007, Yaworsky was permitted to teach all of his classes “on-line” – from
Colorado. And for the 2008-2009 academic year, Yaworsky will receive full pay ($124,000) for doing nothing
for NJCU while continuing to live In Colorado. No departmental meetings; no advisement; and/or no other
involvement with NJCU campus life. Could this extraordinary “absentee assignment,” for Yaworsky,
possibly have had anything to do with President Emeritus Maxwell’s personal recommendation? Did
Yaworsky also attend "no-show" Mayur's parties?
Just how many other faculty members received the “special” (non-verification of academic credentials; i.
e.; Yaworsky and Hernandez) promotional treatment (possibly due to former President WM’s
“recommendation”) can only be determined by a credential-verification audit of NJCU’s entire faculty and
staff.
In June 1968, the New Jersey Department of Higher Education passed a resolution stating: “It is not
possible for an Assistant Professor to be appointed to the Associate Professor rank without a doctorate.”
In the case of Yaworsky, and who knows how many other faculty members, this PhD-requirement didn’t
much matter – WM and the Board simply ignored burdensome New Jersey’s regulations as they saw fit.
And the Union and the NJCU Senate knew this, but said and did nothing.
So the most blatant example of Administrative and Board malfeasance -- possibly resulting from
Hernandez’s vulnerability due to his own fraudulent use of academic credentials -- can be found in NJCU’s
routine awarding of so-called “doctoral equivalency status”(DES) to approximately 65 unqualified (PhD-
less) faculty members.
NJCU had established its own – unapproved --“Doctoral Equivalency” scheme whereby 65 or so “politically
connected” faculty members were permitted to apply for promotions -- without actually having had to earn
a doctorate. The faculty members who were awarded “DES” by the Board, were supposed to have been
widely known, and/or have exemplary academic reputations outside of NJCU -- but none did. And in a
remarkable coincidence, it was the Union leadership and “Administration-ass-kissing-faculty-members”
who were the major beneficiaries of this Board-approved violation (the routine awarding of DES status) of
a specific, non-ambiguous Department of Higher Education mandate – that a PhD was required for
promotion associate and full professorships.
In June 2001, due to my litigation in this regard, the Board passed a resolution stating that it will no longer
routinely promote faculty members to associate and full professorships -- unless they have actually
earned a doctorate (DES faculty members already on the promotion’s list were exempted from this
requirement). These illegal “DES” designations have easily cost the taxpayers somewhere in the
$20,000,000 range and this ill-gotten expenditure will increase significantly in the future due to
undeserved pension increases.
But concern about “ripping-off” the taxpayer was not the reason the Board changed its policies in this
regard. The Board discontinued its illegal practice of promoting faculty members without doctorates due
to pressure it received from an assortment of elected officials and the Public Employees Relations
Commission.
Besides the East-West Institute’s “$100,000-still-unaccounted-for-money” there were, perhaps, a good
many other serious financial irregularities at NJCU that deserve to be investigated. The East-West
Institute “rip-off” suggested that oversight of NJCU’s finances is left to the President. Additionally, the
fact that the NJCU President, its Vice Presidents, and the Deans, have carte blanche use ($1000 -- $10,000)
of American Express Cards (no known oversight or accountability) is strongly indicative of a lack of
financial control at NJCU. And, as the ENRON debacle has made most of us aware, even if there were (are)
routine audits, has anyone audited NJCU’s auditors recently?
Is it the NJCU Board who awards the auditing contracts? Should not an outside independent auditing firm
investigate this matter? But under the law, passed by Governor Whitman (HERA), the Board must
authorize a truly independent audit of it self; and does anyone seriously believe that this will happen
under current New Jersey laws?
Concerns associated with the lack of financial oversight at NJCU became somewhat more focused as the
details of former Vice President of Finance (VPF) Edward Weisman’s “retirement” became known.
VPF Weisman “retired” on June 30, 1994 -- only to be re-hired at NJCU the very next day as a “Project
Specialist.” During the entire time Weisman was a “Project Specialist” he collected retirement benefits of
approximately $55,000 per year, while no apparent effort was made to hire a new administrative vice
president. Weisman was receiving $97,785 in salary when he initially “retired” in 1994, and approximately
$146,000 in salary and benefits when he “retired again” on June 30, 2000. Before he initially retired as VPF,
Weisman was required to work 35 hours per week; as a Project Specialist, he “worked at the pleasure of
the President” (a day or two, every now and then, for an hour or so, by one account).
Was this, perhaps, because any incoming VPF who knew what he was doing (or might be blamed for in the
future) would have insisted, as a matter of routine, on an outside, independent audit? Is it regulatory that
audits are only required to go back five years? And if so, were expenditures at NJCU from the 1980’s until
1995 now audit-free? (NJCU went through several major building projects during Weisman’s tenure and a
few on the staff referred to these projects as “money pits”).
Why it took six years to replace VPF Weisman left many questions unanswered, including whether or not
there was an independent audit; and if there was review of the bidding practices to cover the time period
during which the bulk of the new construction took place at NJCU. Many sanctimonious professors
discussed these and related financial matters over lunch, but nothing ever came of their suspicions.
What oversight did the Board provide for the construction bidding processes? If Board reviews of the
bidding process were in the minutes, these minutes were certainly not made available to the public.
In the meantime, NJCU’s fund raising expenses continued to accelerate -- year after year. For example: if
$750,000 is budgeted for the salaries, benefits and costs related to the fund raising efforts for NJCU, and
these fund raising efforts take in $464,913 (as was the case in 2003) then NJCU loses $285,087 in its efforts
to raise funds. This total loss (waste) of money does not seem to bother the Board though; was this
because a well-connected administrator (former VP Nevin, a “good” friend of WM and Board Chairman
Moore) was, until recently, the primary fund raiser? Instead of reimbursing fund raisers on a 20 percent
straight commission basis, the Board simply hired a replacement for Nevin; Posted? Experienced?
Connected? Cost efficient???
During Weisman’s career at NJCU, Mayur arranged for President CH to join him on junkets throughout the
world. From Luxembourg, to Brazil, from India to Seoul Korea, from Siberia to South Africa, Mayur wined
and dined with the NJCU President – with no demonstrable benefit to NJCU -- with New Jersey taxpayers
picking up the tab. And NJCU derived no benefits from these junkets whatsoever.
For example, President CH took a taxpayer-funded junket (NJCU Development Fund?) to India to receive
the “Priyadarshni Academy’s Global Award for the Promotion of Education” -- and while it’s possible that
this trip might have been connected with some clandestine CIA operation in which Mayur was involved,
such speculation requires confirmation.
Presidential resume embellishment (besides the fraudulent MA)
President CH is on all sorts of “resume-building” committees; but what has he actually done to contribute
to the betterment of education? Those who might be privy to CH’s actual educational contributions or
accomplishments (besides being on some sort of board or committee) please forward that information.
Credit should be given when credit is due, and it will. Please; nothing about President CH’s
accomplishments relating to India though – unless, that is, these covert unpublicized educational
contributions, by CH, are capable of being independently verified.
It’s been rumored, at NJCU, that President CH keeps the details of his “educational accomplishments” in
India “unpublicized” because this information might relate to a covert CIA operation. Ask CH to see the
documentation for these accomplishments and notify this web site accordingly.
Hernandez also received the “Prabhakar R. Shukla Humanitarian Award” during yet another junket (paid
for by NJCU’s Development Fund?) to India. It would be interesting to find out just how many other
persons were nominated to receive this award; and what criteria was used in determining who eventually
was given this award. In all probability, there was only one person on the selection committee for the
“Prabakar R. Shuka Humanitarian Award” -- Rashmi Mayur (AKA, Romesh Shah; name changed to Rashmi
Mayur in the 1980s -- furthering speculation about his possible involvement in covert governmental
operations)
One explanation for why Hernandez’s “accomplishments” in the general category of “humanitarianism”
have not been publicized, by NJCU’s Public Relations Department, is the possibility that President CH is a
“closet humanitarian.” And for those of you who are not familiar with the NJCU Development Fund
(possibly used to reimburse President CH and Mayur for their travels and to give and/or receive “awards”)
this is money contributed to NJCU, by alumni and friends, to be used for college development – not for
globe-trotting of a clandestine nature.
If NJCU has been “developed” in any way, by CH receiving something on the order of the “Prabhakar R.
Shukla Humanitarian Award” this information is certain to be of interest to the readers of Whitman’s Folly. If
you know anything about this award, or know of anyone besides the NJCU President to whom it was
awarded, please share this information. And while it’s possible that Governor Corzine was so impressed
with President CH receiving the “Prabhakar R. Shukla Humanitarian Award” that he kept Hernandez on his
“Governor’s Committee on Education” this likelihood can not be substantiated without the Governor’s
acknowledgment. If you happen to run into the Governor, please ask him why he continues to keep
President CH on his “Committee on Education.”
Is it possible that anyone besides Mayur had anything to do with CH receiving these awards??? Is it likely
that Mayur “awarded” these “awards” himself?
Does the fact that President CH co-authored Pedagogy of the Earth (published by the “International
Institute for Sustainable Future" and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan -- of Mumbai India; a publishing company
possibly owned and operated by Mayur) with Mayur raise any suspicions on your part? If not, this type of
convoluted affair should at least bring a smile to your face.
Carlos Hernandez (spelled Hernandex on Amazon.com) and Rashmi Mayur, are listed as the editors of
Pedagogy of the Earth on: www.amazon.com There were six copies available on Amazon as of 06/21/08; but
give the NJCU library reserve section a try first. The speculation is that NJCU purchased several
thousands of copies of this book as a way of “paying-off” Mayur for whatever he happened to know about
the “inner-workings” of the administration. If you do a “Mayur” search on Amazon, note that articles from
the Futurist magazine, dated 2005, are attributed to Mayur -- raising the possibility that Mayur might still be
alive. After all, this speculation can not be much more far fetched than many of the other things you have
read thus far .
President CH is introduced to the readers of Pedagogy of the Earth as “an eminent writer and speaker on
education and sustainable development worldwide.” Ask CH to see evidence to support this introduction.
And, it is well worth noting, NJCU’s former Vice President John Nevin (who, coincidently, “managed” NJCU’
s Development Fund) also contributed to this “book” (review the previous footnote dealing with resume
embellishment in academia in this regard). And, as it appears to be the case with CH, Nevin never had any
"sustainable development" background or experience either.
Perhaps the most disturbing question regarding Pedagogy of the Earth is that while NJCU has quite an
impressive number of faculty members with expertise in the areas of education and sustainable
development, absolutely none of them were ever contacted, by Mayur, and asked to contribute to this
book. Instead, Mayur selected NJCU’s highest level administrators; President CH, whose doctoral
dissertation was written on the subject of why senior citizens “enjoy” living in a particular senior citizen’s
complex in Jersey City, and former Vice President Nevin, for whom Pedagogy of the Earth appears to be his
only attempt at being published.
If this pseudo-intellectual collaboration (Mayur, Hernandez, Nevin) does not raise some serious questions
about academic integrity, please contact WD.
But by now Pedagogy of the Earth-type wheel-deals probably don’t have any fascination for those of you
who are reading this narrative, and you might even be amused by Mayur’s NJCU 35 year mostly “no-show”
relationship with NJCU – except for the fact, that if you have paid New Jersey taxes, you helped to
involuntarily subsidize Mayur’s highly questionable, but admittedly “intriguing,” academic career. And just
to make the plot more interesting, please review Mayur’s web-site www.panjokutch.com/Rashmi and note
again, that are absolutely no references on this site to Mayur’s 35-year “career” at NJCU.
So the NJCU faculty and staff were surprised (those who actually saw this book, that is) to find that all of
this “sustainable futures” expertise existed amongst the NJCU Administration. It should be noted that
Pedagogy of the Earth consisted of articles authored by Rudyard Kipling, Theodore Roszak, Paul and Ann
Ehrlich, Rachel Carson, Bertrand Russell, Herbert Marcuse and Leonardo DaVinci; as a matter of fact, the
works of these well-known writers provided almost the entire content for Mayur’s book.
So the collective scholarly wisdom of NJCU President CH, former NJCU Vice President Nevin, and NJCU
Professor Mayur (a total of 29 of the 249 pages) were published in the same book as the writings of
Bertrand Russell and Leonardo Da Vinci, how impressive! And it might be advisable for the taxpayers of
New Jersey to request a copy of Pedagogy of the Earth from their libraries so they can see for themselves
how some of their tax money was spent. Please forward your comments and your reaction might become
part of the chapter about NJCU.
A reasonable question at this point might be “what possible benefits did NJCU derive from the Mayur-
NJCU-CH collaboration?” As far as I am able to determine -- none whatsoever -- at least none that can be
identified from a review of NJCU’s publications and/or press releases. And this “none whatsoever” is
precisely what the NJ Inspector General found after he concluded his investigation of the Mayur-NJCU
“no-show” arrangement.
Another reasonable question might be “why did President CH tolerate Mayur’s special, extremely high-
profile, “no-show” status?
One possible explanation: when WM surreptitiously molded the NJCU presidency specifically for CH, there
was possibly a quid pro quo stipulation that Mayur must still continue to be taken care of (an extension of a
WM-created virtual no-show assignment for Mayur) by the new President. After all, WM (who was married)
and Mayur (never married) attended many of the same off-campus “socials” while both were still junior
faculty members. And Mayur resided at a Manhattan West side apartment; an apartment to which more
than a few NJCU coeds reportedly found their way to on Friday nights (it would be appreciated if anyone
who attended any of these faculty-student “get-togethers” would be willing to post their recollections on
this web-site – especially Diane).
A covert CIA operation?
It’s been rumored (without any other evidence than “how else can Mayur’s “no-show” status be
explained?) that Mayur’s “no-show” status, and the refusal of the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office to
investigate it, are because Mayur was possibly a CIA operative -- with his full-professorship at NJCU,
perhaps, having been used as his “cover profession.” This is also the reason, it has been rumored, that
the lid has been kept on the story about President CH having used a fraudulent academic degree. (There
is a conspicuous symbiotic relationship between these two stories).
By “bad-mouthing” the United States, every once in a while, Mayur carefully cultivated such an image of
anti-Americanism that the possibility that he was a CIA agent became far fetched -- thereby assuring his
cover. And while this possibility would be extremely difficult to prove, without the acknowledgment of the
CIA, it’s plausible that someone in official circles has information about Mayur having been involved with
this or, perhaps, some other worldwide covert operation of this nature. If you have any information about
any of Mayur’s possible clandestine activities (in the early 1980’s, for example, Mayur was AKA Romesh
Shah) such as the radio show he hosted for WBAI-FM in Manhattan (AKA: Left-wing Radio) please contact
WD with the details.
The financial machinations at NJCU became open to questions again when Dr. Lois Pratt, a retired member
of the Sociology Department, decided to contribute $250,000 to the NJCU Development Fund. Dr. Pratt and
her husband (a retired Montclair State University professor) researched the procedures by which the
NJCU Development Fund was administered, as well as this fund’s accounting and auditing practices --
then they decided not to leave any money to NJCU; instead, the Pratt’s $250,000 went to Rutgers’ School of
Law.
Gil Noble was formerly NJCU’s high profile, “resident celebrity” faculty member (“exemplary faculty
member” listed in the NJCU Admissions Catalogue) who was on the payroll, as a “Visiting Professor and
Specialist,” from September 1994 until December 2000. According to the Star-Ledger, “Noble, like Mayur,
was one of 11 faculty members regarded as so important that they are singled out for mention in NJCU’s
admissions brochure: Gil Noble: visiting professor of media arts, television journalist…The impression
created for potential students is that if they come to NJCU, they might have a chance to study with the
great man himself. Unlikely; like Mayur, Noble has been collecting a salary from NJCU without teaching.”
During the six years Gil Noble was employed at NJCU (he is now eligible for a life-time pension from the
State of New Jersey), athletic programs were cancelled, tuition was raised, and partially subsidized faculty
research opportunities became virtually non-existent. But neither the Union, nor the faculty, took any
action against this obvious “featherbedding.” Appointments of this sort, it appeared, are more or less
taken for granted at NJCU.
A reasonable person might have expected that the NJCU Board of Trustees -- when the details of Gil
Noble’s “four-day-a-year” work responsibilities were publicized in the Star-Ledger -- to have demanded
that President CH terminate Noble’s relationship with NJCU. The Board could have said something to the
effect that: “we were not familiar with the degree of the total worthlessness of this assignment, but now
that we are, we want this relationship ended.” But instead, the Board took two full years to terminate
Noble. That’s because Noble needed these two additional years in order to be eligible for a New Jersey
Pension. That’s real arrogance and contempt for the taxpayers. And in the March 2007 edition of the
Gothic Magazine, there’s a photograph of “President Emeritus Maxwell with his “good friend” Gil Noble.
How’s that for an “in-your-face” action by a member of the Administration?
Dr. Stanley Worton, PhD; retired Professor Emeritus of History, was formerly one of President WM’s most
enthusiastic supporters. WM, it appears, developed a strong relationship with Professor Worton while he
was a student in a several of Worton’s history classes. After WM became NJCU’s president, Dr. Worton
received a 50% reduction in the number of classes he was required to meet each week – the remainder of
his professorial responsibilities: to prepare a “comprehensive” history of NJCU.
Eleven years later, Dr. Worton’s “comprehensive” history of NJCU was completed. During this time, Dr.
Worton was paid an annual salary of about $65,000 (the highest possible faculty salary during the 1980’s).
So it ended up costing the taxpayers approximately $400,000 for this “monumental” history of NJCU (Dr.
Worton’s class size, for the two classes he taught each week, during the time he “worked” on this book,
averaged about six students – contrast that, if you will, with an average student-per-class size at NJCU of
23).
This “exhaustive” history of NJCU -- totaled 26 pages – including photographs -- and an inordinate amount
of attention to President Maxwell.
Why I became involved
The following information is being presented in order to provide the reader with a better understanding of
the manner in which I initially became involved in an adversarial entanglement with NJCU’s
Administration. While this information might be of interest to faculty members and administrators, it’s
doubtful that this material would have much appeal to the general public. If academic promotional
machinations don’t interest you, please continue your reading at “Interlude completed.”
In the fall of 1992 after a two-year leave of absence during which I had earned a PhD, I returned to my
teaching assignment at NJCU; I was now eligible for promotion to associate professor (the PhD was
required for this promotion). I filed my application to be placed on the promotion’s list.
When the promotion list was posted several months later, one of my departmental colleagues had been
placed 12 promotional-slots ahead of me on this list -- even though he had been “awarded” his DES two
months after my name had been placed on the promotion’s list (being 12 slots behind someone was
equivalent to three years of additional waiting time for that promotion). The fact that this colleague and I
were hired at NJCU at the same time, and that I had an earned PhD, but that he had nothing other than a
routinely-given DES, suggested, to me at least, that something was obviously wrong with NJCU’s
promotions practices.
I was, as I was soon to find out, totally unaware of just how routine it was to obtain the so-called “doctoral
equivalency status” (DES) a designation which would have enabled me to be promoted without having
gone through the trouble and considerable expense to earn a legitimate doctorate. Just how routine it
was to be awarded the DES would be uncovered during Step II of my Union grievance hearing.
Having concluded that most of NJCU’s promotional practices were a sham, I made inquiries about how the
DES charade actually worked. I determined that there was absolutely no relationship between the amount
of graduate work completed and eligibility for the DES. Even those without any contributions to NJCU
could apply (“apply”, as I soon found out, really meant “obtaining”). One simply filled out the application
and recorded it with the Assistant to the President. The date that one filed the application for the DES,
with the Assistant to the President, eventually became one’s actual date of placement on the promotion
list.
In other words, while it might take a faculty member two or three years to have his DES approved (few, if
any, of the requirements to obtain a DES were ever followed) the date of actual placement on the
promotion’s list was established by when one filed his DES – not when his DES was “awarded.” So, in my
particular case, I earned a PhD only to have faculty members who had been approved for DES several
months or even years after I had earned a PhD, placed three years ahead of me on the promotion’s list.
And the Union would not permit me to take this grievance to arbitration; could this have been because a
significant number of Union leaders had been granted DES, including a Union President and Vice
President?
After researching the DES promotion procedures, and determining that many of these procedures were
not being followed, I filed a grievance with the Union. Some of the DES promotions procedures routinely
ignored were: (1) A faculty member who wishes to apply for promotion shall meet with the AVP to
document that faculty members qualifications; NOT DONE; just how many faculty received DES’s through
the misrepresentation of their contributions to NJCU; publications; and degrees, could only be assessed
through an audit of the personnel files. (2) The AVP will appoint one member of the faculty member’s DES
committee; the College Promotions Committee one member, and these two will select the third member –
NOT DONE; the candidate himself actually selected all three of the members of his DES committee; faculty
with whom, obviously, he was on the best of terms. (3) NJCU’s DES promotional procedures were required
to be approved by the Department of Higher Education – this was never done.
Remember, as previously noted, at NJCU, 65 faculty members applied for this so-called “DES” and the
NJCU Board of Trustees granted “DES’” to each and every one of these 65 faculty members. And if any of
the faculty members awarded “DES” by the Board were (are) known and/or respected outside of the NJCU
community, please identify these extraordinary faculty members so that they can be duly recognized in
Whitman’s Folly. (I expect my colleagues at NJCU to be of great help to me in this regard. I’ll even post the
extraordinary accomplishments of any NJCU faculty who were awarded “DES” if the documentation is
posted on this web site.
Convinced that I had been harmed by NJCU’s failure to comply with the DES promotions procedures that
NJCU itself had developed, (but never approved by the DHE as required) I filed a grievance with the
Union. At Step One of the grievance process, I was turned down; after all, Assistant to the President Carl
Robbins was the hearing officer and it would be highly irregular to expect him to rule in a grieveant’s
favor – unless, of course, it was with the President’s approval. Following grieveant protocol, I moved to
step two on the grievance process.
It was during Step two of my grievance that my Union Representative was informed, by the Assistant to the
President, that NJCU Board had approved every DES application ever submitted to it; 65 in all. The
Assistant to the President was quoted (at this Step two hearing) as saying: “the Board can do whatever it
wants to.” When the Union Representative asked the Assistant to the President if this meant “a garbage
collector, with no academic degrees, could, theoretically, be made a full professor by the Board?” The
Assistant to the President replied, “yes.” And, it should be noted, this was well before Whitman’s HERA
(complete exemption from NJ law) became the law. And this was during the time when the New Jersey
Department of Higher Education required associate professors and full professors to have earned
doctorates.
At the conclusion of this Step two hearing, I assumed that I had won. My thinking was that if the Assistant
to the President had admitted that the Board didn’t have to follow the promotional regulations -- that NJCU
itself had established; and the Board was engaged in a policy of granting DES without any regard to
Department of Higher Education rules, then there was little chance that I could lose this grievance.
My optimism proved to be short-lived. Due to the strong possibility that the Union assistance I had
requested might negatively impact 65 or so of my colleagues (the possible loss of their ill-gained
promotions), the AFT stonewalled my efforts to obtain mediation, arbitration, or any other kind of hearing
whatsoever. For ten years, my Union refused to deal with my allegations -- with the explanation “it’s not
covered by the contract.” The Union at NJCU, the Union at the NJ State level, and the Union at the national
level (materials available upon request) – all of these various levels of the Union hierarchy have been
made aware of the illegal activities listed in this chapter of Whitman’s Folly -- and all have chosen not to
take any action; because “it’s not covered by the contract.”
My efforts at resolving these issues in the courts proved equally unsuccessful. I was handicapped by the
fact that I had to pay the entire court costs myself, while NJCU was represented by the Office of the New
Jersey Attorney General. In other words, the NJCU Administrators, who were violating the law, paid
nothing in legal costs; the taxpayers did. If this bothers you, share your concerns with your State Senator
and/or Assembly person.
My Superior Court hearing resulted in a summary judgment in NJCU’s favor because “I did not file my
grievance in a timely manner.” I had not found out just how blatant NJCU’s violations of the promotion’s
procedures actually were until Step two of the grievance process; and because I added this information to
my complaint later than the fifteen days initially allotted to me, I had lost on a technicality. My claim:
because taxpayer funds were being misused, someone in the prosecutor’s office should initiate legal
action based on my signed complaint -- fell on deaf ears.
This had been an expensive lesson for me to learn about our legal system – that being that it was
impossible for me to have violations of the law at NJCU investigated by any official governmental agency.
For example: the Governor can ask the Attorney General to investigate a case, but I can’t – unless, that is,
the Governor tells the Attorney General’s Office to do so. This convoluted arrangement (not having an
independent attorney general’s office) makes cover-ups, such as what is taking place at NJCU, relatively
simple to arrange.
However, because my complaint involving NJCU’s violations of the promotions process was an ongoing
one, I filed a new grievance the following spring. This time, I was assured by my attorney, I had done
everything in a timely manner and would ultimately get my day in court.
Two years and ten thousand dollars later, the court ruled against me for the second time, stating, in
essence, that I was “trying to get another bite at the apple”(my failure to appeal the original court
decision, it appeared, prevented me from re-opening this case even though the violations were ongoing).
I took this case to the Appellate Division and, again, after a two-year wait, received a ruling upholding the
lower courts decisions in this matter. I still fail to understand the legalities behind these rulings, leading
me to consider the possibility that these decisions were more “politically” motivated than decided by the
rule of law. If there are any lawyers reading this who would be interested in contributing to Whitman’s
Folly, please post your explanation of legal quagmire I was put through on WD.
For the sake of argument, even if I had made legal errors in charging the administration with wrongdoing,
should that mean that the administration should now be immune from prosecution because of my inability
to file charges in the proper manner?
The fact that the NJ Attorney General’s Office will defend a State Institution (in this case, NJCU) against
charges of corruption, but will not investigate these charges, is disgraceful. It should violate your sense
of justice -- that if you are aware that employees of a State institution are violating the law – that there’s
nothing you can do about it – other than complain to that institutions Board of Trustees – the group
responsible (in these particular cases at least) for the creating problem in the first place? Is not it
ridiculous that the Attorney General’s Office (the highest law enforcement agency in NJ) won’t investigate
crimes committed at State institutions -- unless instructed to do so by the Governor? Well that’s what
happened with my charges against NJCU. If this is not an inadequacy of the justice system, then it
certainly should be.
The NJCU Board Chairman, it appeared, had decided to make an example of me. In the Academic Year
1999-2000, the NJCU faculty was “informed by the Local that 18 of the 27 people who had been hired 1986
and prior, and who were covered by the Grandfather clause, had been promoted…It is unfair and
discriminatory to choose some Grand fathered faculty and promote them, while refusing the remaining
members of that group.” The Grandfather Clause clearly applied to me (I had an average of 18 more years
of seniority, and was older than every one else on this list) and eventually every one on the Grand
fathered list was promoted – except me.
Next I tried to obtain a legal resolution of my differences with NJCU through the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Unfortunately, however, the EEOC won’t consider a complaint -- unless
the retaliation was a consequence of charges I might have raised based on discrimination.
In June 2001, I made yet another attempt to resolve my promotional issues with NJCU. While on a
sabbatical leave, I communicated my concerns, about not being included in the Grand fathered group, to
the President of the Union. The AFT President assured me, that as a result of a conversation he had with
the NJCU President Hernandez, my name would be submitted to the Board, and that I would be promoted
in September 2002. Because of this informal agreement, I did not file a grievance (based on NJCU’s failure
to live up to the Grandfather agreement) or consider the “early retirement package” available at that time.
The September 2002 Board meeting was held – without my being promoted; the Board Chairman, it
appears, had personally prevented my name from even being placed on the agenda (a clear violation of
the NJ Sunshine Law). I was informed that the Board Chairman had blocked my promotion because he had
been compelled to answer questions from the Inspector General about the Board’s approval of Mayur’s
ten-year “no-show” assignment. (letter to this effect, from the Inspector General, available)
The motive behind the Board Chairman preventing my name from being placed on the board’s agenda was
clear – revenge, and the opportunity to send a clear message to other faculty members who might
challenge the Board under similar circumstances. The letter I received from the NJ Inspector General
stated that Board Chairman Moore “advised the OIG that the trustees were aware of, and approved,
Professor Mayur’s assignment” an assignment that the OIG had determined “was essentially a no-show
professorship at a State institution of higher learning.”
Interlude completed
Reflections – and tying things together
One of the things I expect to find out, from my preparation of Whitman’s Folly, is how to account for the
somewhat convoluted relationship existing between former President WM and his hand picked successor,
President CH. How and why, the question is, did WM go about identifying CH to be his successor? After
all, when they first met, they shared little in common -- besides, that is, both being employees of NJCU;
WM, as the Dean of Arts and Sciences, and CH, as an instructor – an instructor hired illegally (no master’s
degree) in the first place.
The explanation circulating at NJCU (when WM began to actively plan for his retirement) was that Maxwell
(a self-styled expert in African-American affairs -- who had refused to move to Jersey City as a condition of
his presidency) was concerned about the likelihood that his “presidential-successor” would likely be an
African-American. And the most likely (perhaps certain) African-American on the NJCU staff at that time,
with strong, impressive, presidential qualifications, was Vice President of Student Affairs, Julian Robinson.
Former NJCU Vice President Julian Robinson had many highly-desirable presidential qualifications which
should have enabled him to have succeeded WM as NJCU’s president. He was, after all, articulate,
charismatic, well respected in the Jersey City Community (a two-time candidate for mayor), a Commissioner
on the New Jersey Garden State Parkway Authority, and, most importantly, an African-American. But, while
he was exceptionally well qualified to succeed WM, what Robinson lacked was the ability to get along with
President WM (in other words, they disliked each other).
President WM began his plans for “retirement” (in reality, only stepping down from the actual position of
president) some fifteen years or so before he actually left that office. Call it far range, taxpayer-funded
“estate planning” if you will. And WM’s future had absolutely no room in it for someone like Robinson. The
possibility of a Robinson presidency could not be left to the chance that the wisdom of the Board might
happen to go in that direction; the Board had to be manipulated well in advance, by WM, to ensure that
some minority, other than Robinson, inherited and continued the administrative philosophy of the WM
presidential dynasty.
President WM, in 1975 or so, decided to recruit, cultivate, and prepare someone else (who, like VP
Robinson, was also a minority) to succeed him some 17 years later. That someone turned out to be
Instructor of Psychology, CH, BA. (Whitman’s Folly would be so much more interesting if someone could fill
in the how and why of the manner in which the WM/CH relationship was initiated. After all, there were a
number of other minorities at NJCU, besides CH and Robinson, and these other minorities actually had MA’
s and PhD’s. But by selecting a qualified applicant to succeed him, WM it could be argued, would not have
had the leverage he needed to ensure the completion of his retirement package. WM required someone
he could continue to manipulate even after he had arranged for himself to be named “President Emeritus”
by the Board.
My speculations: hiring a minority (CH) who lacked the qualifications for the presidency in the first place
(remember, CH was originally hired with only a bachelor’s degree) created an obligation on the part of CH
to WM; and WM, by arranging to have CH begin amending his name with a non-existent masters degree
(1980) in order to be able to become an “assistant to the president” created a vulnerability (once CH
began using fraudulent academic credentials he was susceptible to WM’s every administrative whim). And
once CH became AVP – with only a bachelor’s degree – WM’s eventual retirement scheme was almost
assured of success. WM knew very well, by this time (by what he had already gotten away with at NJCU)
that he didn’t have anything to worry about from its docile faculty; all that was left was to go through was
the pretense of a nationwide search for a new president to succeed him -- then WM’s 17-year taxpayer
funded “estate plan” “golden parachute” scheme would be complete.
The nation-wide search for a new NJCU president began in 1990. Postings were placed in the Chronicle of
Higher Education, the Sunday New York Times Education Section, varieties of minority newspapers -- both
in this country and abroad -- and in educational publications throughout the country. The NJCU Senate
formed a Presidential Search Committee and after five months of time-consuming committee work, the
search for the new president began.
Applications for the position of NJCU President came pouring in, by one estimate, nearly four- hundred.
Current university and college presidents, a wide assortment of academic vice presidents from highly
regarded institutions of higher learning, CEO’s and former CEO’s of major corporations who wanted to
give something back to the community – they applied, and they applied.
The Presidential Search Committee, with the assistance of the NJCU Administration, narrowed the
“presidential finalist” list down to 25 candidates – including, to probably no one’s surprise, NJCU’s in-
house cultivated candidate, AVP CH. Invitations were sent to the other 24 candidates to visit NJCU to
meet with the search committee -- their transportation and living expenses paid by the taxpayers.
With the suspense mounting (among the naïve’ faculty at least) the list of 25 candidates was whittled down
to three finalists – and these finalists were invited to share their educational philosophies and objectives
before an open meeting of the entire NJCU community.
After this “Presidential-selection-charade” had run its course, the Board announced that CH would be the
new NJCU President. It was to be politics as usual, in Hudson County, NJ.
The docile, promotion-motivated and therefore controlled NJCU faculty did nothing about this “stacked-
deck” presidential-selection charade. Their ethics were confined to the content of their classroom
lectures -- practicing what they were preaching – by, in this particular case, protesting against this sham of
a presidential selection process, was never a consideration. The NJCU Senate neither said nor did
anything; the NJCU Union neither said nor did anything, and the NJCU community had a taxpayer funded
celebration in honor of its new president.
CH, whose tenure as AVP could at best be described as “lackluster,” had “beaten out” dozens of
accomplished higher education administrators, and become WM’s handpicked presidential successor.
This nation-wide search, to “find” CH, had cost NJCU (the taxpayers) in the neighborhood of $250,000;
totally wasted the time of 300 or so faculty members (many faculty shared the illusion that their opinions
would actually count) and held out the reasonable expectation to 100 or so presidential candidates that
they would be given a fair and honest chance at being considered for the position for which they applied.
But the “next NJCU president deck” had actually already been stacked many years before the presidential
search committee was even formed – President WM was to have his well-planned retirement package
(AKA “golden parachute”). And the Board continued to have its steak and lobster “Post Board Meeting”
dinners at the Casa Dante -- with the public picking up tabs in the thousand dollar range.
How the Board could be “wined and dined” by the taxpayers, after engaging in these acts of
administrative skulduggery, might possibly be explained as: “that’s the way things have always been done
in Hudson County.” But just because something is customary, doesn’t make it right – and the power
brokers at NJCU, it appeared, had become accountable to no one.
President CH’s presidential inauguration was an elegant, extravagant affair; cost was not a consideration
-- after all, it was the taxpayers who were picking up the tab. CH’s inauguration ceremony pamphlet noted
that he had received his BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees from City University of New York. The problem (as has
been previously noted) was that CH never had received the MA he claimed to have earned from CUNY.
The Board, predictably, attended the Presidential inauguration; were given the usual public recognition
from the dais; and applauded by the faculty for their “distinguished” public service. The Board was
applauded even though many of the faculty members in attendance were fully aware that the Board had
totally failed in its responsibility to identify and hire the best possible candidate to be NJCU’s next
president (the Union was certainly aware of this fact). A Presidential Inauguration party was given, the
press and some elected officials had their pictures taken with the new President, and the faculty went
back to life as usual at post-WM NJCU.
One of the first personnel recommendations to the Board of Trustees, by incoming President CH, was the
nomination of former President WM for the position of President Emeritus on the pay scale of a full-time,
full-professor (back then, approximately $100,000) -- plus his full retirement benefits.
Additionally, Maxwell was assigned a personal secretary, a teaching assignment of two classes per week,
and, most importantly, unrestricted, unlimited access to the new President. He also had a brand new
office, in a brand new building -- an office larger than the one he had occupied while he was the
president. Other “President Emeritus” perks?
“Perks” such as “all-expenses-paid” European vacations on which a select group of NJCU administrators
and Board members participated – the exact number to be determined by an audit of NJCU’s European
Study Tours. These programs were offered between 1962 --1999 and had a cash value in the $3000 range.
NJCU administrators referred to these trips as a “perks” and a significant number of them took these
tours several times -- often accompanied by their “significant others”— with the participating students
paying much higher tour fees as a consequence.
“President Emeritus WM” has been collecting both his pension for having been president – and his salary
(currently $124,000) as “President Emeritus” since 1994. Last year he collected his full salary without
doing anything at NJCU, as he will for the entire 2008-- 2009 academic year. The taxpayers should really
enjoy reading about how those, in some parts of academia at least, can feather their own retirement nests
– and charge it to the taxpayer. Call it “tradition” if you feel comfortable with this designation. But what did
"President Emeritus"actually do to deserve this extraordinary treatment?
The WM arrangement discussion goes something like this. Because other colleges and universities have
bestowed the title of “president emeritus” on a number of their distinguished presidents, there was no
good reason why NJCU should not have a “president emeritus” of its own. The fact that Bill Maxwell had
not done anything of significance to distinguish himself above and/or beyond any other of NJCU’s
Presidents didn’t matter. That’s the advantage of playing with a stacked deck (the Board) and having only
a docile faculty with which to contend. If “you can’t fight city hall” was an accurate assessment of life in
Jersey City, “you can’t fight the Administration” was, and continues to be, the prevailing attitude of the
NJCU faculty.
But now, instead of the long hours that a president is required to put in during the year; but now, instead
of having to attend seemingly endless meetings where everything under the sun is discussed, but hardly
anything is ever accomplished; now, instead of having to deal with a complaining, holier than thou,
pseudo-intellectual faculty, President Emeritus WM now had very little to do, and continued to receive a
full professor’s salary, plus his retirement benefits, and Social Security. After all, it’s costly to own and
maintain a newly-constructed New York City condominium overlooking the Hudson River. As President
Emeritus, was now obligated to be at NJCU for a total of only thirty-two weeks a year, and if he needed
anything, all he had to do was ask President CH. And if President CH ever had to make a major decision,
WM was close by for “guidance” and/or “consultation.”
President WM, it appeared, had remained de facto President, even after his retirement; he was now “the
power behind the throne.” And for the faculty, life went on as usual. The Senate held its monthly
meetings, invited the President to pay a visit every now and then, and the Union obtained several dozens
of more ill-gotten promotions for its “in-members” (those who regularly attend meetings) who had never
earned PhD’s.
What does the NJCU community have to look forward to as this sorry, convoluted, illegal, unethical period
in the history of the NJCU community continues? Traditionally, “distinguished” members of an academic
community had to die, or at least, retire before buildings and other locations were named in their honor.
But, it appears, current “President Emeritus” WM, and former Board Chairman Moore, were much to
“important” to be compelled to conform to any such traditions. In December 2004, NJCU announced the
“William J. Maxwell College of Arts and Sciences,” and the “John J. Moore Athletic and Fitness Center.”
After all, it appears that anyone with the right knowledge about the actual goings-on at NJCU can pretty
much call the shots, and President Emeritus WM and Board Chairman Moore certainly know what went on,
and what continues to go on at NJCU.
But just who, or which group, really bears the ultimate responsibility for the administrative anarchy that
has been so openly tolerated at NJCU for the past 30 or so years? Is it former Governor Whitman, who
sponsored the law creating autonomy for New Jersey’s State Universities and Colleges – and in whose
name will be on the title of this book? Governor Whitman was made aware of Mayur and CH and did
nothing other than ask the CHE to write a letter stating that CH’s fraudulent MA was the result of a
typographical error.
Is it former Governor McGreevy? McGreevy was made aware of CH’s use of fraudulent academic
credentials only to place the NJCU President on his “Governor’s Education Cabinet”. Is it the United
States Department of Education? This agency was notified but said it was only concerned about student
loan defaults. Is it the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office? No, this agency defends State agencies
from the types of charges outlined on this web-site. PERC only deals with cases involving individual
discrimination; the Hudson Prosecutor lacks jurisdiction over a state agency; and likewise the Jersey City
Prosecutor.
From my perspective, the primary responsibility for the toleration of the illegal activities at NJCU lies with
the Union, after all, this is the organization entrusted with the responsibility of protecting faculty from the
abuses of administrative power. But because many Union members benefited from a good deal of this
illegal activity, the Union decided that it was in its best collective interest to do nothing. And the
supposedly highly ethical University Senate did nothing. The Senate’s Ethics Committee did nothing. The
Faculty Affairs Committee did nothing; none of the large number of sanctimonious, ethics-pontificating
faculty did anything; and, it appears, all that’s left to do is to try this case in the court of public opinion.
That’s the real purpose behind Whitman’s Folly.
Admittedly, this brief, narrow history of NJCU represents, in all probability, only the tip of the proverbial
administrative malfeasance iceberg. NJCU has had thousands of faculty and staff since 1927, and there
are, no doubt, countless additional stories, many, perhaps, much more “interesting” than the ones that are
being prepared to be dealt with in Whitman’s Folly.
Investigative Frustrations & Administrative Arrogance
You might be interested in the manner in which the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office; the United
States Department of Education; the FBI; the New York Times; the Chronicle of Higher Education; the
Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office; the Jersey City Prosecutor’s Office; the Public Employees Relations
Commission; the Jersey Journal; The Star-Ledger; The Bergen Record, The Jersey City Reporter; The New
Jersey Commission of Higher Education; and New Jersey Governor Whitman, investigated and
subsequently determined if my allegations of wrong doing at NJCU were factual -- here’s how it was
typically done.
These organizations either called the NJCU’s President’s Office, or NJCU’s Office of Public Relations to
check out the information I had given them. If they called the President’s Office, they were referred to
Public Relations. Public Relations would inform them that I was a disgruntled employee (true) and that
even my Union and the Courts had determined that my allegations were groundless (not true). My Union
simply refused to address my allegations; and the courts dismissed my complaints on procedural grounds
– based on the “recommendation” of the Attorney General.
None of these organizations attempted to verify any of the information I had given them because NJCU’s
Public Relations Department told them that my accusations were groundless.
What a way to conduct an investigation. How difficult would it have been to verify the President’s use of
fraudulent academic credentials? How hard would it have been to check out a “no-show” faculty
member? How much time would it have taken to determine if NJCU was violating its own, unauthorized
promotions policies? How can justice ever be served if we are going to ask those accused of wrongdoing
if they are guilty or not, and then determining guilt or innocence depending on the answer? But that’s
exactly what happened with my accusations against NJCU.
Last April, as a more recent example of the gross violations of common law at NJCU, I filed a
“whistleblower” complaint against the Administration. The complaint went to Human Resources – which
forwarded it to the Administration (the Administration that I had filed the “whistleblower complaint against)
– and the Administration against whom I had filed my “whistleblower” complaint ruled -- that my complaint
was groundless.
But, it needs to be stressed, never at any time did any investigative agency (with the exception of New
Jersey’s Office of the Inspector General – which confirmed Mayur’s ten-year no-show status) ever attempt
to verify the fraudulent use of academic credentials of President CH, or Bohdan Yaworsky of NJCU’s
Criminal Justice Dept. There were no efforts to investigate my charges of gross violations of NJCU’s
unauthorized promotion’s procedures, and there was never any investigation of NJCU’s routine awarding
of Doctoral Equivalency Degrees – even though this illegal practice easily cost the taxpayers of New
Jersey in the $20,000,000 range.
Administrative Arrogance
What is most disturbing about administrative malfeasance at NJCU is how extremely incompetent most of it
is. President CH knew, as far back as 1996, that I was attempting to expose Dr. Mayur as a “no-show.” The
President had ample time to instruct Mayur to make additions to his web-site so that it would at least give
the impression that he (Mayur) was employed by NJCU; but this simple modification appears to have never
been considered by President CH. Mayur had a web-site during the entire time he was a “no-show” at
NJCU, but this web-site never acknowledged Mayur’s faculty status at NJCU.
Mayur had a full-page biographical sketch outlining his professional life in The Futurist magazine-- but the
fact that he was worked at NJCU for 35 years was never mentioned. And when Mayur was eulogized in
Children Speak (Feb-March ’04) Dr. Roshmi Udyavar, the Director of O.P.C.R., India, stated “Armed with a
doctorate and full of hope and enthusiasm, Rashmi Mayur returned to his country from the United States
more than 30 years ago, determined to make a difference…” And, during these 30 years in India, Mayur
was paid a full salary by NJCU. CH also eulogized Mayur in the same edition of Children Speak --
strategically failing to mention Mayur’s 35-year employment with NJCU. So either this was “stupidity,” or
“something else” that has yet to surface. I’m inclined to go with the “stupidity” explanation.
One can only speculate as to why Mayur would not want his employment status at NJCU known to visitors
to his web-site. My speculations: (1) as previously mentioned, Mayur was a CIA operative and this
clandestine organization didn’t want anyone checking on him at NJCU. (2) Mayur was embarrassed by his
association with NJCU. (3) Individuals visiting Mayur’s web site might have raised the same questions I
have: “If he is actually a faculty member at NJCU, why can’t he ever be reached there?” (4) Mayur was told
not to mention his employment status at NJCU by the NJCU Administration.
Getting back to the issue of administrative arrogance; President CH could have also easily assigned
Mayur an insignificant token project in which NJCU received some minute degree of recognition. In a talk,
supposed to have been given by Mayur in Siberia, for example, NJCU could have been mentioned, by
Mayur, as “being interested in some sort of “student exchange” but this was never done -- that’s
administrative arrogance. Insignificant, meaningless gestures, like throwing NJCU’s name out every now
and then, might have been sufficient to give the OIG enough of a reason to conclude that Mayur was, in
fact, doing “something” for NJCU. But this was never done. That’s administrative arrogance, pure and
simple.
The only known way in which NJCU had any relationship with Mayur, during his more than ten-year leave
with full pay from his faculty responsibilities, was to list him as one of the ten “exemplary faculty members”
in its admissions brochure. NJCU did this knowing full-well that Mayur was not going to be teaching, or
doing anything else that could have had even the most remote chance of being of any value to NJCU’s
students. Fraud, misrepresentation, theft of public funds – all of these were descriptive of the
Administration at NJCU.
The NJCU Board of Trustees had been exposed in the press as being incompetent, but this Board did
hardly anything to try to deal with this negative publicity. All that this Board did was to “direct” President
CH to write an absurd, insulting letter to the faculty (October 1999) alleging that Mayur was following his
(CH’s) personal directives. Remember, the one thing NJCU claimed Mayur had done, during the ten plus
years he was being paid for having done nothing at all at NJCU, was to have given one lecture, and this
lecture never happened – that’s administrative arrogance.
If you happen to be aware of the actual reason Mayur never mentioned his 35-year NJCU career on his
personal web-site, or have knowledge of any other type information that might shed some light on this
rather intriguing subject, be sure to forward this information to WD.
The reality that Board administrative arrogance was a fact of life at NJCU was reinforced by a letter to the
editor I sent to the Star-Ledger in April 2001. In this letter, I put the reading public on notice that there
were both “no-show” positions and the use of fraudulent academic credentials at NJCU.
Imagine how many of my faculty colleagues, New Jersey elected officials, or fellow citizens for that matter,
contacted me for more details about these public accusations of criminal wrongdoing at NJCU? If you
assumed NONE, you’re absolutely right. So, perhaps, the Board was, and continues to be, arrogant, with
good cause. Public and governmental apathy about misconduct on the part of public officials (the NJCU
Board in this particular case) is a serious threat to our democracy. Hopefully the publication of Whitman’s
Folly will play a part in the return of responsible oversight to public institutions of higher education in NJ.
Faculty Emeritus Devalued
In January 2004, Dr. Mayur was once again nominated for “Emeritus Faculty” status. Neither NJCU
President CH, nor NJCU’s President Emeritus WM would provide the required supporting letter
recommending Mayur; nor would anyone else on the faculty – including the deans and departmental
chairpersons who had authorized his “no show” assignment. Mayur was supposed to have died in
February 2004 (possibly 12/03), and on March 24, 2004, there was a memorial service in his honor at the
United Nations. At NJCU, however, where it’s not unusual for the death notices of the grandparents of
former employees to be posted, there was no mention of Mayur’s death -- or of his memorial service at the
UN. Something strange is going on at NJCU, and perhaps Whitman’s Folly will facilitate in determining what
it is.
And it is just this type of arrogance (the Mayur situation) that needs to be controlled by holding NJCU (and,
perhaps, all other public institutions of higher learning) accountable to regulations enforced by New
Jersey Statute Law. Autonomy should not mean administrative anarchy as it has at NJCU; autonomy should
mean freedom from a central bureaucracy, with accountability to the education-based state laws that have
been enacted by our duly elected representatives. These laws must assure our citizens that a governing
board is subject to the same principles of the law (i.e., not permitted to authorize “no-show” positions)
that govern the rest of us.
It is hoped that former Governor Whitman will review the information presented on this web-site and will
forward her reactions in order that they might be included in Whitman’s Folly.
Afterthoughts
Apathy and indifference, amongst the NJCU faculty, is, perhaps, surprising only to those who might expect
university professors (most of whom have doctorates) to take more of an aggressive, active role in
determining the rules and conditions of their employment. The idea that a collective association (union
members) of PhD’s would permit administrators to continuously violate their professional integrity is
probably a difficult concept for the general public to accept. But that’s the way it is at NJCU; the
Administration has, as a matter of fact, co-opted the Union leadership through the granting of promotions
and other types of pay increases; and in return, the Union does nothing that might, in anyway, embarrass
this “we are above the law” Administration.
As a direct result of my charges of administrative abuse at NJCU, certain institutional changes have been
established.
(1) The practice of awarding promotions to faculty without PhD’s has ended – saving the public millions of
tax dollars. The NJCU Board ended this illegal practice in June 2001.
(2) One “no show” professor was forced into retirement after a minimum of ten years as a “no show" --
and another five-year “no-show” compelled to resign in 2001.
(3) The Commission of Higher Education acknowledged that NJCU President CH was using a non-existent
MA degree – in 1998 attributing this fraud to a 20-year typographical error; and then in 2006 to an
“oversight.” (CH has informed reporters that “his faculty advisor was supposed to submit his application
to be awarded his MA – but forgot to do so). And finally, due to the involvement of Assemblyman Patrick
Diegnan, the CHE finally acknowledged, in March 2008, (letter available) that President CH had used a non-
existent degree in the process of becoming NJCU's president
CH is currently the only known university president who has been permitted to continue in his position --
even though the Board knows that he used fraud to obtain that position. And CH is the only university
president in NJ permitted to hold two full-time jobs -- even though NJCU students fail to graduate at the
highest rate in the nation. So hopefully the publication of Whitman’s Folly will result in a formal
investigation of this obvious fraud. So, the jury’s still out in this regard.
(4) The union has “suggested” that the number of NJCU Board of Trustees be increased by two - two union
members. But the Board typically goes out for some fine dining (usual cost about $100 per person,
charged to the taxpayers) after their meetings, so it’s highly doubtful that the Board will support this
rather unique extension of the franchise. After all, why would the Board want to “wine-and-dine” with two
union members? If the Board was “boxed-in” to doing so, it’s a safe bet that the post-Board meeting
dinner parties would most likely be moved to a near-by diner. After all, the Board certainly would not want
the Union Board members telling their Union colleagues about lobster tail dinners which were washed
down with $75 per bottle wines.
(5) The anthropologist “child-lover” who thought he had been on the fast track to a full professorship (he
was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure, by the administration, over the objections of his
own department) has, it appears, been sidetracked. And while he once rubbed elbows with President CH,
at a variety of National Geographic-type anthropological affairs, he now faces the very real prospect of
having reached the end of his promotional line. Did President CH finally realize that he had been “used”
by this child-marrying anthropologist? Has everyone else at NJCU finally realized that it was disgraceful to
have rewarded this anthropologist for engaging in “courtship” activities which would have landed him in
prison – had these activities had taken place in the United States?
But in January 2008, the Administration approved a "two-day-work-week" for this "Romeo" -- and this "two-
day-work-week" has been extended for the entire 2008-09, 2009,-10 academic years.
(6) Former Governors Whitman and Mc Greevey, former Acting Governor Codey, and the current
Governor, Jon Corzine were all made aware that something is terribly wrong at NJCU. As a result, in
December 2006, the NJCU Board hired attorney, Alfred Ramey, with the title of “assistant to President
Hernandez" (Salary $155,000) – but Ramey works directly for the Board -- and not the President -- so his
real job is to "keep his eye" on Hernandez. And while this Board encroachment on the President's Office is
a violation of the "separation of duties and responsibilities" between a board and a president, nothing is
being done about it -- and the union says "it's not part of our contract."
(7) NJCU now posts a "whistleblower" complaint process on its web site. Unfortunately, if one "blows the
whistle" about fraud by the president" -- it is the CH administration, itself that hears such complaints. So
the results of such hearings are predictable -- and there is no known appeal.
(8) In June 2008 NJCU posted, on line, the establishment of a fraud report system with "Ethics Point" (EP) --
cost, $4145.00 per year. This "services" was supposed to give NJCU employees the "opportunity" to file
fraud reports involving the NJCU administration.
I filed a "fraud report" -- on July 6, 2008 with EP -- regarding President CH's use of fraudulent academic
credentials. I noted that the so-called "nation-wide" search for the NJCU presidency had cost about
$50,0000 and that Hernandez was being paid a salary he didn't deserve -- because he had obtained his
position due to fraud. EP forwarded my "fraud report" -- to the NJCU Administration -- which dismissed it --
because it didn't involve "financial irregularities."
Next, I filed a "fraud report" with EP about Ms. Betty Gerena's "questionable" job as an assistant to the
chairman of the computer science department. I notified EP that Gerena's position was not posted, nor
was it ever requested by the computer science department. I also noted that Gerena had no academic
qualifications for such an assignment, and that she was given a salary that was significantly higher than
the chairman of this department -- a chairman with a PhD. EP reacted to this "fraud report" by requesting
the name of the person who had "informed" me about Gerena (EP requests "how do you know-type
information" when one make his initial report). I responded to EP's request with the statement "EP
guarantees that fraud reports can be anonymously submitted -- and the facts about Gerena speak for
themselves -- these facts are capable of being independently evaluated and assessed -- so requiring the
person reporting this fraud to a third party, serves no other purpose than to terminate this particular fraud
inquiry.
On February 8, 2009 I once more checked with EP's web site. This time , it was posted, that "because I
didn't provide EP with the name of my informant -- the Gerena fraud case is closed.
On October 01, 2008, I had a telephone conversation with Jane Oates, the Executive Director of the CHE. I
informed Director Oates that I had filed a complaint with EP and that NJCU had refused to answer it.
Director Oates advised me to forward my complaint in this regard to the NJCU Board -- which I did, by
certified mail, on October 14th 2008.
On March 4, 2009, I received a response from "Executive Assistant to the President, Alfred E. Ramey -- this
time in his role as "University Counsel" (remember -- his actual assignment is the "council to the Board").
Mr. Ramey, on behalf of the Board, informed me that because CHE Director Oates had not actually used
the word "fraud" in either of her letters to me -- (CHE Director Oates had written "use of un-awarded
credentials" and "was eligible to apply for the master's degree, but did not" in her letters to me -- in place
of actually stating "fraudulent use of academic credentials") -- that my charge that CH used fraudulent
academic credentials is not accurate. It takes an attorney to write such nonsense with the expectation
that someone might be willing to accept such convoluted logic.
And regarding my report to EP about CH's use of a fraudulent academic degree to become NJCU's
president, this had already been resolved at the Board's September 2007 meeting -- at which the Board re-
affirmed its confidence in CH. And in regard to my allegation of fraud in the case of Gerena, Ramey told me
that if my anonymous source was unwilling to make the report herself, I was ineligible to do it on my own.
In other words, the facts do not speak for themselves in cases of "featherbedding" at NJCU.
Disturbingly, although NJCU contracted with EP, and it is the NJCU Administration (CH) that both hears and
assesses these complaints -- and then decides what to do, or not to do; the faculty at NJCU accepts this
insulting type of token "oversight" and the taxpayers unknowingly pick-up the tab. And remember, NJCU
handles "whistleblower" complaints in much the same manner. If a faculty member "blows the whistle",
and then is punished for "blowing the whistle" it is the administration itself that hears any related
complaints.
Update
Attorney General Ann Milgram February 18 2009
PO Box 085
Trenton, NJ 08625-0080
Dear Attorney General Milgram:
In the article I am preparing for publication, I am planning to be stating essentially the following:
“The current New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will investigate a faculty member for having
criticized a fellow 40-year-old faculty member – because he married a 12-year-old child – however -- the
OAG will not investigate the fraudulent use of academic credentials, “no-show’ professorships,
“featherbedding,” or the fraudulent use of sick time – because, in the OAG’s opinion, it is up to such an
institution’s Board of Trustees to investigate and deal with such issues. And if the institution’s Board of
Trustees has been involved in ongoing efforts to cover-up such administrative abuses, nothing else can
be done about it in New Jersey – according to the OAG.”
Background.
Since the late 1990’s, I have been informed, by the OAG, that the OAG does not investigate fraud at New
Jersey State institutions – but that the OAG defends State institutions against any such fraud charges. But
when Governor Corzine took office, I was informed that the OAG would now investigate fraud charges
against State institutions.
Unfortunately, however, my most recent attempts to have the current OAG investigate my “fraud charges”
have been turned down by the OAG.
I have been led to believe, that the article I am preparing about administrative fraud at New Jersey City
University (NJCU) – (www.njcu-gadfly.com) has a good chance of being published. However, before this
article (which will be titled “Whitman’s Folly – Ways in Which the Higher Education Restructuring Act of
1994 Have Failed”) can be considered for publication, certain of the details in this article (as previously
noted) -- require either a written response – or no response – from the OAG. And I will use the Certified
Mail receipt for this correspondence to demonstrate your response, or lack there of, to a publisher.
Last fall, I provided OAG Investigators, Charles Crescenz, and Mr. Louis Corngut, documents and
information indicating the following:
(1) Likely insurance fraud (administrative non-enforcement of sick-day regulations).
(a) NJCU’s previous president (William Maxwell; WM) “retired” in 1994 – but returned – the next week -- as
NJCU’s first “president emeritus.” WM receives both a full professor’s salary-- plus full retirement
benefits (legal???). WM has been assigned, for the past 15 years, two classes per week – as well as his
own private office and his own personal secretary. WM received full salary last year ($120,000 – plus full
retirement benefits) without doing anything – assumedly he was on “sick-leave.” WM is now receiving full
salary ($124,000 plus full retirement benefits) again without having to do anything – again, assumedly while
on “sick-leave.”
(b) Professor Bodham Yaworsky (BY) used a non-existent PhD for ten years (1984-94) before actually
obtaining a PhD in 1994; BY received multiple promotions as a consequence of using his non-existent
(fraudulent) PhD.
During the past academic year (2007-08) BA “taught” all of his classes, “on-line” from Colorado – in
violation of his contractual obligation to serve on committees, meet with students, attend department
meetings, etc.
This academic year (2008-09) BY is currently on “sick leave” – while continuing to live in Colorado -- too
“sick” apparently, to even “teach” on-line” courses. And, it’s my understanding, BY will continue on “sick
leave” next year – unless, of course, the AG shows an interest in this arrangement. And, BA is a member of
Gov. Corzine’s Education Commission -- and a personal friend of President Emeritus WM.
(c) Anthropologist Ken Good (KG) requested a two-day work week -- because he commutes to NJCU from
Pennsylvania – and, due to the increase in gas prices, according to KG, this has become too expensive.
The NJCU administration only refused KG’s request – because of the objections of his department
chairmen. His department wanted him to be available to his students, on campus, for at least three days a
week.
Denied a two-day work week (30 weeks a year) KG proceeded to use his “sick leave” to reduce his
teaching load – and has been doing so – with the approval of the administration -- since January 2008. He
is on 25% disability – which reduces his teaching load to three classes per week – and he’s only required
to be on campus two days a week.
KG, interestingly, “requires” his students to purchase the book he wrote about his “courtship” and
“marriage” to a 12-year-old child; I brought this to the attention of the New Jersey Ethics Commission --
and in response, NJCU prevailed upon Attorney General Milgram’s office to investigate me – because I
had, apparently, criticized (discriminated against) KG’s so-called child-marriage. Interestingly, the OAG
decided to become involved in this particular case, because it involved NJCU’s attempt to intimidate me
(contact DAG Joseph Carbone 609-530-4087 for the related details).
It’s common practice, at NJCU, for the administration to permit “connected” faculty members to reduce
their teaching load (from twelve contact hours per week to eight, six, or three) and be charged “sick days”
in exchange. Many faculty members have routinely accumulated 400 to 500 sick days – and most
departments never report instances when faculty members are actually, or allegedly, absent due to health
reasons.
In other words, if a senior faculty member is 60 or so years of age – and plans to retire in five years – he
can begin teaching six hours a week – and only lose 60 sick days per year for five years – and still have
200 or so sick days in case he is really sick. Former Union President, Robert Arey, as one example, spent
the last ten years as a faculty member, using up much of his sick time teaching – while fulfilling only 50% of
his contractual obligation.
AG Milgram, your office has refused to do anything about this – because this routine practice has the
ongoing approval of NJCU’s Board of Trustees.
(2) “No-shows” and non-essential positions (featherbedding)
Betty Gerena, a personal “friend” of NJCU’s married president, was “dumped” into the computer science
department -- and is paid more than the chairman of this department. This “friend” had no apparent
qualifications for this “unique” position, nor was this position requested by the department; this “personal
friend’s” position was neither posted, nor was any affirmative action guidelines followed.
In June 2008, NJCU posted a “fraud report” mechanism – on line – assumedly to give those employed at
NJCU the impression that the administration is serious about identifying and addressing fraud at the
University (likely, in reaction to the “stir” I had generated around NJCU by publicizing www.njcu-gadfly.com
throughout the entire NJCU campus).
I reported Presidential-appointed “Betty Gerena” to “Ethics Point” – and “Ethics Point” --- sent my report
to --- the NJCU Administration. How’s that for oversight? Then NJCU has the audacity to inform the NJCU
faculty that the “Ethics Point” arrangement was entered into so that NJCU could comply with the federal
“Sarbines—Oxley Act of 2002” (protection for whistleblowers
“Ethics Point” – after six months – still has no response from NJCU about my Betty Gerena report – and as
far as I can determine – there’s nothing I can do about this farce. NJCU is paying “Ethics Point” about
$5,000 per year for this “service.” And, your investigators have refused to do anything about this
featherbedding – because it was approved by NJCU’s Board of Trustees.
(3) At my request, the New Jersey Inspector General (OIG) investigated a professor who never appeared
on the NJCU campus for at least ten years – and the OIG concluded he had been, in fact, a “no-show” --
but that nothing could be done – because this “no-show” was authorized by the NJCU Board. And AG
Milgram’s office also refuses to get involved for the same reason (OIG letter available).
(4) In 2007, the University’s Board of Trustees was officially notified, by its own legal council (Alfred Ramey,
a former deputy attorney general) that NJCU President Carlos Hernandez; (CH) used a fraudulent academic
degree – and, in response, the Board passed a resolution-- to do nothing about this fraud (Board
resolution available).
At the request of Patrick Diegnan, Chairman of the New Jersey Assembly’s Higher Education Committee,
the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education (CHE) “re-investigated” the use of fraudulent academic
by CH. The CHE sent me a letter acknowledging that CH used fraudulent academic credentials – and that
the university’s Board of Trustees is aware of this fraud (letter available). And AG Milgram’s office has
refused to investigate this fraud – because this fraud had the approval of NJCU’s Board of Trustees.
(5) In December 2006, NJCU hired yet another “assistant to the president” (Alfred Ramey {AR} – a former
deputy attorney general). AR’s job responsibilities are a duplication of another “assistant to the president,
Gayle Ford – but Ford is still supposedly “doing something.” AR told me – personally – (after I had
provided him with most of which I am now sharing with you) that he (AR) doesn’t work for the NJCU
President – but reports directly to the NJCU Board (this is, very likely, an illegal arrangement between a
Board and a president).
AR is part of NJCU’s “lawyering-up” – NJCU’s academic vice president is an attorney, five of NJCU’s Board
members are attorneys, and now a NJCU Board employee is an attorney. And the OAG finds nothing
unusual about this “lawyering –up” as it directly relates to a possible “cover-up” of numerous instances of
fraud at a State institution?
(6) I was denied a promotion because of my “whistleblowing” – and, in this regard, was told by your office,
to hire an attorney and take this complaint to court. But this option is not available to me (convoluted
details available). In other words, the AG’s office will do nothing about the punishment of whistleblowers.
If I fail to hear from your office by March 17, 2009, I will conclude that you have no objections or concerns
with the conclusions I have outlined in this correspondence.
For further information, copies of any noted documents, or specific questions related to this request,
please contact:
williamdusenberry@yahoo.com -- or 918-615-6310
Respectfully,
William Dusenberry
6108 W. Birmingham Circle
Broken Arrow, Ok 74011
PS. I will travel to NJ to testify about anything dealt with -- either in this correspondence -- or anything
contained on www.njcu-gadfly.com (where the outline of the article I am preparing is available)
cc. Governor Jon Corzine, various selected newspapers throughout New Jersey and the United States.
As of May 11, 2009, I received responses from New Jersey Inspector General Cooper, and the New Jersey
Public Advocates Director of Citizens Relations, Jago. Inspector General Cooper informed me that her
office was prioritizing the cases that might have the best impact on New Jersey (not mine) -- the Public
Advocate stated that the issues I had raised were a personnel matter -- and therefore the Public Advocate
lacked the authority to involve itself in these issues.
No response from:
New Jersey Attorney General Ann Milgram
New Jersey Assembly Higher Education Committee Chairman, Patrick Diegnan
Commission of Higher Education Executive Director Jane Oates
New Jersey Comptroller Matthew Boxer
New Jersey State Ethics Commission Executive Director, Kathleen Viechnik
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine
NJCU Academic Vice President Bruno
NJCU Dean Fiol-Matta
The Jersey Journal
The Star-Ledger
The New York Times
The Hudson Reporter
On March 29, 2009, New Jersey Ethics Commission attorney Stollman informed me that unless I could
provide proof that the copies of Professor Good's book -- that were sold by the NJCU Bookstore -- were
purchased by Professor Good's students -- and not by "people off the street, and/or students and faculty
members not in Professor Good's classes -- that the Ethics Commission would take no action.
My OPRA request to determine the possible second jobs, or other outside financial interests, of NJCU VP
Bruno; Dean Fiol-Matta; NJCU Ethics Compliance Officer Ramey; and Board Secretary Gayle Ford were
denied -- and my related complaint with the OPRA Compliance Office has been denied; it appears that
OPRA does not apply to situations such as this (I don't agree, but I can't afford to challenge this OPRA
decision in the courts). The bottom line in this regard: Faculty members must report outside work to the
NJCU Administration; but the faculty has no right to be able to find out outside employment by NJCU's
administrators -- even though NJCU has the highest dropout rate in the nation.
I'm still waiting for the results of NJCU's investigation of me -- by the New Jersey Attorney General (for my
having criticized Professor Good's marriage of a 12-year-old child). The AG's conclusion will be posted as
soon as it is available (AG's decision made in 11/08 -- today's date, 09/22/09).
On July 26 2009, the Star-Ledger (New Jersey's largest news paper) contained the following exchange on
its "On Line" NJ Voices Edition. This exchange shows, without any doubt, that NJCU President Hernandez
committed fraud, and that so far this fraud has been "covered up."
NJ Voices: Opinions from New Jersey
“In corruption busts, feds need lots of bait to catch big fish”
By Bob Braun
July 26, 2009
When it comes to big corruption busts -- like Thursday's arrest of 44 politicians, public employees and
religious leaders -- the laws of nature are reversed. The little fish will eat the big fish; or, at least they'll try,
if it helps them get off the hook.
Comments:
Posted by tomtalltree
July 26, 2009, 5:38PM
Question: “What do you call 44 politicians, public employees and religious leaders being arrested in New
Jersey?”
Answer: “A good start.”
Posted by "apathyisus" who is the NJCU-Gadfly (williamdusenberry@yahoo.com)
July 27, 2009, 12:14AM
I sent Bob Braun three letters, from the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education, stating that the
president of a State university had used a fraudulent academic degree to become president. Ditto: "proof
of pension-padding; no-show professorships; sick-leave abuse; illegal promotions; and political patronage
jobs (totally unnecessary). No research needed. Story -- none. Why? Ask Mr. Braun. Is Mr. Braun part of
the solution (to the fraud in NJ problem) or possibly part of the problem?
Posted by bobbraun
July 27, 2009, 9:39AM
Apathyisus--
And I noted to you that what you consider fraudulent behavior may not be so. In any event, I have never
seen your "three letters from the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education stating that the president
of a State university had used a fraudulent academic degree to become president." I asked you to send
that information to me again so I could review it. You have refused to do so but you apparently enjoying
bashing me anonymously and suggesting I--like the law enforcement agencies you also have not
convinced--am not interested in your allegations of fraud.
If you don't want to send them to me, why don't you name the president here? Why don't you post the
letters? Why are you so afraid?
My name is on everything I write--where's yours? It's easy to froth indignantly at the mouth, making all
sorts of accusations, as long as you can hide behind the negligee of anonymity
.
Put up or shut up my friend, and, if you're the brave academic you pretend to be, use your real name and
stop hiding coward-like behind a pseudo-intellectual moniker. Or I will out you.
Posted by jeffcon
July 27, 2009, 10:04AM
Apathyisus- OK, time to man up. Either put up or shut up. I hope you accept the challange.
Posted by maxlaw
July 27, 2009, 5:24PM
Hey Bob:
Maybe he/she is just upset because one or more of his/her favorite comic strips has been "furloughed"
from the Ledger's funny pages!
Posted by apathyisus
July 29, 2009, 1:33AM
Mr. Braun:
On at least three occasions, I have sent you the documentation from the New Jersey Commission of
Higher Education (CHE) acknowledging that New Jersey City University President Carlos Hernandez used a
non-existent MA (master’s degree) to become both NJCU's Academic Vice President and President.
The first CHE letter I sent to you (dated 11/30/98) stated that NJCU President Hernandez "had completed all
academic requirements and was eligible to apply for a master's in 1980 but apparently (he) did not do so."
This admission that Hernandez did not have the MA he had used for 20 years -- was "spun" to make it look
like Hernandez somehow forgot to apply for something he had earned -- and that's why he didn't have it --
and this is a complete fabrication.
No self-respecting reporter would have accepted such crap -- unless told to do so. Were you so told?
The second CHE letter, I sent to you, (dated 6/6/06) stated: "President Hernandez never applied for or
received the master's degree."
The third CHE letter (dated 3/12/08), I sent to you, stated that CHE Executive Director Jane Oates saw
Hernandez’s "use of unawarded credentials that is prohibited by NJAC 9A:1-81.
My wife is a personal friend, of a personal friend of yours, and she knows very well that I sent you these
materials.
The entire story is available by Googling "Fraud at New Jersey City University" (about four from the bottom
of the first page) or go directly to www.njcu-gadfly.com. My web site is posted there, and I will gladly send
copies of the three letters to anyone sending me a postage-paid self-addressed envelope. On my web-
site, I have offered a $10,000 reward to anyone -- including you, Mr. Braun, who can prove that NJCU
President Hernandez did not use fraudulent academic credentials -- and that now goes for your readers
also.
My name is William Dusenberry; williamdusenberry@yahoo.com
Posted by jeffcon
July 29, 2009, 11:09AM
OK Mr. Braun, time for you to man up and do some investigative reporting.
Posted by bobbraun
July 29, 2009, 9:24PM
JEFFCON/APATHYISUS:
I would first invite everyone to open Prof. Dusenberry's website and read it through to the end. I would
congratulate anyone who does that and still retains a modicum of understanding of what he is trying to say.
I would then consider this definition of fraud, randomly selected by Google. For my purposes, it's as good
as any:
``A false representation of a matter of fact--whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading
allegations, or by concealment of what should have been disclosed--that deceives and is intended to
deceive another so that the individual will act upon it to her or his legal injury."
As best as I can determine, Mr. Hernandez allowed to be placed in a catalog a notation that he had
received an MA. He did not, in fact, receive that MA. When Prof. Dusenberry brought that to the attention
of the state, the notation was dropped.
Now what he wants us to believe is that Hernandez became president of what was then Jersey City State
by dint of his misrepresentation. In other words, the people who made him president thought he had an
MA when he really didn't and made him president believing that he did.
If you read his website, you will see that the Governor, the state Senate President, the Attorney General,
the Commission on Higher Education, the trustees of Jersey City State, and the entire faculty of the
college--which, as he notes, rejected his candidacy as union president--knew of his claim. Where is the
deception? Who didn't know? Obviously, the college's trustees--and virtually everyone else--knew
Hernandez didn't have a master's degree, Hernandez admitted he didn't have it, and yet he was made
president anyway.
I am willing to stand corrected, but I know of no requirement that a college president must have a PhD.
The trustees could legally appoint him president with or without a PhD or even an MA.
The key elements of fraud are deception and injury. There was no deception--the trustees knew he didn't
have an MA. Prof. Dusenberry somehow links Mr. Hernandez's lack of graduate degrees to the absurdly
low graduation rate at NJCU--a rate he knows, as I do, was just as low when Bill Maxwell was president.
I agree with Prof. Dusenberry that the higher education board should be reinstated. I agree that it is a
disgrace that all public colleges in New Jersey have absurdly low graduation rates. I have written ad
nauseam about both issues. I do not necessarily agree that a PhD is a requirement for a college
presidency--or represents some sort of magical qualification for anything. Dwight Eisenhower was named
president of Columbia University without a PhD, and he is not the only example.
Perhaps Mr. Hernandez should have been disciplined for allowing the notation of his MA in the catalog.
But the trustees appointed him president AFTER the notation was removed and AFTER the trustees
learned he didn't possess the credential. That is not fraud.
You may disagree with me all you wish, Prof. Dusenberry, but I would caution you against suggesting that I
have some sort of interest in this. I don't agree with your characterization of what occurred as fraud--that
does not mean I was "told" not to write about or that I received some sort of compensation for not writing
about it. To suggest otherwise, I warn you, is actionable and you know it.
Posted by apathyisus
July 30, 2009, 2:45AM
Mr. Braun:
Your statement (immediately above) "But the trustees appointed him president AFTER (your emphasis) the
notation (fraudulent MA) was removed and AFTER (your emphasis) the trustees learned he didn't possess
the credential (Fraudulent MA) That is not fraud."
This statement -- made by you, Mr. Braun, --- is totally and absolutely false. And I promise to pay you
$10,000 if you can provide the proof that this statement is accurate.
NJCU President Hernandez applied for the position of academic vice president using a fraudulent
academic degree (a non-existent MA) and the details about how this was done are detailed on: www.njcu-
gadfly.com
Without engaging in this fraud, Hernandez would have had to apply to become an academic vice president
with only a bachelor's degree. That's why his adding a fraudulent MA to his academic vice presidential job
application was fraud.
Hernandez would not have been hired to be an academic vice president with only an MA -- even the docile
NJCU faculty would have refused to have gone along with a BA academic vice president.
The NJCU faculty launched a nation-wide search to find the best academic vice president available -- and
Hernandez didn't even make the list of the ten finalists -- even with using his phony MA. But with the
usually Hudson County political intrigue, Hernandez became the avp nonetheless.
So, Hernandez became the only academic vice president in the US having only a bachelor's degree; so,
Mr. Braun, you are incapable of identifying fraud here?
Later, Hernandez used his fraudulent MA in his inauguration catalogue; and still uses this phony degree
on his "New Jersey Insider-- Minorities" biography.
In March 2008, the New Jersey's Commission of Higher Education's Executive Director, Jane Oates, sent
me a letter (available) in which she stated "I did not characterize the issue as a typographical error (what
NJCU originally claimed caused the phony MA to appear for 20-years in NJCU's Catalogue) but instead saw
it as a use of an unawarded credentials that is prohibited by N.J.A.C. 9A:1-81.”A person shall not utilize or
append to his name any academic degree as evidence that he has received such a degree." So, Mr.
Braun, was Ms Oates wrong when she wrote this letter?
The sad truth is, Mr. Braun, and a truth that is certainly newsworthy, is that the NJCU Board of Trustees
covered up this fraud -- and under the "Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994" (Governor Whitman's
gift to NJ) -- if a Board of Trustees refuses to do anything about the fraudulent use of academic
credentials -- nothing else can be done ------- except that columnists such as you -- can demand that those
using fraudulent academic credentials be fired (as has happened to several football coaches recently)
and that a Board of Trustees that permits the fraudulent use of academic degrees be asked to resign by
the governor.
And that the faculty at NJCU knows that its president committed fraud -- and refuses to do anything about
it -- that's a story -- and not an indication that I have made baseless accusations as you clearly imply.
20 years ago you championed the State takeover of the Jersey City Board of Education. I traveled to
Trenton and testified before the Assembly's Education Committee in this regard. And you printed my entire
presentation in the Star-Ledger. But now, I don't know what has happened to you; please re-read NJ's
"Fraudulent Academic Degree" statute, and prepare a new and accurate response to my fraud charges
accordingly. Your readers deserve this, and clearly so do I.
Posted by bobbraun
July 30, 2009, 12:44PM
Question: What corporate body is empowered by state law to appoint state college presidents?
Answer: A college's board of trustees.
Question: Under state law, does a candidate need a PhD or even an MA to be a college president?
Answer: No.
Question: Did the Jersey City State College board of trustees appoint Carlos Hernandez president?
Answer: Yes.
Question: At the time the trustees voted to appoint Hernandez president, were board members aware he
did not have an MA?
Answer: Yes.
Question: If, at the time Hernandez was appointed president, he did not claim to have an MA and the
trustees were aware he did not have one, can it be said that Hernandez committed a fraud?
Answer: No.
You are using legal terms of art, Prof. Dusenberry, and I would be very careful. You may be unhappy that
Hernandez became president without the usual credentials. You may be unhappy that, for a while, the
catalog listed him as having an MA he didn't have. But when you accuse someone of fraud, you are
accusing him of criminal behavior. In my judgment--and, clearly, in the judgment of virtually everyone else
in a position to do anything about this--Carlos Hernandez did not defraud the college by becoming its
president. You may go to your grave believing otherwise, and that is your right, but it is not your right to
defame anyone with impunity, including those who disagree with you.
Posted by apathyisus
July 30, 2009, 2:30PM
Mr. Braun:
You've been duped; pure and simple. And it's hard to accept that this has happened to a seasoned,
professional newspaper reporter.
You have somehow concluded (perhaps from asking NJCU how this fraud can possibly be "spun") the
following:
Braun's Question: Did the Jersey City State College board of trustees appoint Carlos Hernandez president?
Answer: Yes. And, we agree about this.
Braun's Question: At the time the trustees voted to appoint Hernandez president, were board members
aware he did not have an MA?
Braun's Answer: Yes. But that's the wrong answer, Mr. Braun.
Hernandez became NJCU's president in 1994 -- the Commission of Higher Education did not instruct
Hernandez to stop using his fraudulent academic degree until 1998 -- and then only because of my
complaint to Governor Whitman.
Braun's Question: If, at the time Hernandez was appointed president, he did not claim to have an MA and
the trustees were aware he did not have one, can it be said that Hernandez committed a fraud?
Braun's answer answer: "No".
But now that you, Mr. Braun, are able to confirm that the Board of Trustees did not know that President
Hernandez had used a non-existent (fraudulent) academic degree (Hernandez became the NJCU President
in 1994 -- and NJCU wasn't instructed to remove his non-existent MA from the NJCU catalogue until 1998)
you have both the duty and the obligation to acknowledge the fact that you've been duped -- and have
been duped over and over again, by NJCU, since I originally "gave" you this story ten years ago.
I have already offered you $10,000 in the event you were able to prove your distorted version of what
happened here -- and you have made no effort to collect this $10,000. Again, let me make this as clear as I
possibly can.
Hernandez became the NJCU President in 1994 -- using a fraudulent MA degree. And this fraudulent
degree was listed in Hernandez’s inauguration booklet (I'll send you the copy). So, at the time he was
interviewed to become president, and when he became president, there is absolutely no proof that the
Board of Trustees knew that he was using a fraudulent academic degree.
I provided Governor Whitman with this information in the spring of 1998 -- and Whitman forwarded my
complaint to the Commission of Higher Education in the fall of 1998.
NJCU told the Commission of Higher Education that President Hernandez’s MA had been placed in the
NJCU Catalogue for the past 20-years -- because of a typographical error. And you, at that time, accepted
this nonsensical explanation.
NJCU was instructed (by the Commission of Higher Education) in November 1998, to remove Hernandez’s
fraudulent MA -- and NJCU had to destroy about 20,000 copies of its year 2000 catalogues in order to do
this (cost to the taxpayers, about $50,00o).
So, the first time the NJCU Board of Trustees became aware that Hernandez had used a fraudulent
academic degree was some time in 1998 -- four years after he had become president using a fraudulent
academic degree.
Those are the facts, Mr. Braun, and if you chose to ignore them, you do so at your own "pride-in-self" peril.
Do the research -- and collect the reward I have offered you in the event that you can prove me wrong.
The time for "spinning" is over. The facts speak for themselves. Full story: www.njcu-gadfly.com
Posted by jeffcon
July 31, 2009, 10:54AM
Sounds fraudulent to me. He was appointed in '94, fraud was discovered in '98.
This whole situation needs some exposure. Perhaps some sunlight will kill the mold.
Mr Baun, you seem determined to defend Hernandez. Why is that? Why not win the $ 10,000.00 and donate
it to a scholarship fund? At least make a stab at being open minded.
Posted by bobbraun
August 01, 2009, 7:29PM
Just do what the man says and read his website, please, and try to follow his logic. I did and I keep coming
back to the same conclusion--as much as he or I or anyone else might not like what Carlos Hernandez or
the board or both did, there is no evidence of criminal fraud.
Even if what he said about what happened in 1994 is accurate, which it's not, even he admits Hernandez'
lack of an MA has now been known for 11 years--through Republican and Democratic administrations alike.
The professor has tried unsuccessfully to persuade all manner of people--from journalists to academics to
politicians to law enforcement--to see the story his way, and no one has. No one cares except the
professor. Has everyone been hypnotized? Bribed? Abducted by aliens and implanted with computer
chips that block their ability to see what only the professor can see?
I frankly don't care about Carlos Hernandez, one way or the other. The story the professor claims to have
simply is not there. And offering $10,000 to disprove it is just plain silly because, in his mind, the story
cannot be disproved. To me, the point is not whether the possession of a degree was inaccurately placed
in a catalog, that's been conceded. The point is, as the professor has contended, the crime of fraud was
committed. It hasn't been.
Prof. Dusenberry can continue this so long as he wants, but I'm done with it. I would just advise him, as
I've advised others, that I will not permit this site to be used to defame others, and that means I will not
allow him or anyone else to say someone has committed a crime unless that person has, in fact, been
convicted of the crime. A libel suit is likely to cost him and this newspaper, maybe both, considerably more
than the $10,000 he is offering.
Posted by apathyisus
August 02, 2009, 10:07AM
So Bob Braun has examined the evidence at least twice in regard to New Jersey City University President
Carlos Hernandez having used a non-existent (fraudulent) academic degree (a master's degree) to initially
become NJCU's Academic Vice President; then nine years later, NJCU's president.
N.J A.C. 9 A: 1 - 81 "Fraudulent Academic Degrees" states: "A person shall not utilize or append to his
name any academic degree...as evidence of receipt of an academic degree unless the person has
received the academic degree." And this is what NJCU President Hernandez did twice; once when he
applied for the Academic Vice Presidency, in 1983, and again when he applied for the presidency in 1992
or so.
Mr. Braun, this is the statute that makes what President Hernandez did in this regard, fraud, and this
statute provides no exception in order for the NJCU Board of Trustees to be able to "overlook" this fraud
- you appear to be almost "Orwellian" Mr. Braun, in your extraordinary attempts to try to "spin" this into
being the case. Why?
Deputy Executive Director Oswald, of the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education first made
President Hernandez's fraud known in her letter dated 11/30/98 - which is about when I contacted you, Mr.
Braun. I gave you a copy of this letter. This letter explained that President Hernandez's non-existent
master's degree was used due to an error in NJCU's Catalog - and that this non-existent degree would be
removed from this catalog - and that "removal of Hernandez's fraudulent academic degree from the NJCU
Catalog satisfied you, Mr. Braun.
The penalty for using a fraudulent academic degree at NJCU - whatever the NJCU Board of Trustees
decides that it wants it to be. So, termination (as has happened to several football coaches recently) or
"overlook it and try to cover it up" (as is clearly the case at NJCU).
You attempted to trivialize my long-going complaint by pointing out that no investigative unit would accept
my complaint. And here's why.
Mr. Braun, because you initially considered reporting about this fraud story, your effort became the
"benchmark." When anyone else contacted NJCU about this fraud, they were told that you had already
looked into it and found no violations of NJ law.
Then when I tried to file a complaint with the Attorney General - and was told that the Attorney General
would defend the NJCU President against any fraud charges, that became a second benchmark. Now any
reporters were told that you, Mr. Braun, had found nothing, and either had the Attorney General.
Then after the Commission of Higher Education sent me the letter - attributing the fraudulent academic
degree to a "typographical error" that would be corrected, the CHE became the third benchmark.
Every time I contacted someone else, to do something about this fraud, NJCU referred them to these
"benchmarks" to dissuade them from examining the evidence (documents) which speak for themselves.
Your possible reason for doing noting initially:
Someone at NJCU possibly persuaded you that President Hernandez was part of an "Affirmative Action
Program" and that exposing him for having used fraud, would damage and thereby undermine the entire
effort. President Hernandez had now become the highest ranking (and highest paid) Hispanic in the State
-- and as the rules were broken when Hernandez was initially hired as a college instructor in 1974 (he was
hired to teach college with only a bachelor's degree, and no teaching experience) whoever was his
"Godfather" was still in control.
Your probable reason for doing nothing now: (now that it's been demonstrated that President Hernandez
clearly committed fraud)
You, Mr. Braun, simply don't want to admit that you were used, spun, or otherwise bamboozled. And,
unfortunately, this is how I, and hopefully those reading this, will remember you. And, again unfortunately,
this raises questions about everything else you've ever written, or will continue to write.
NJ Voices: Opinions from New Jersey
“In corruption busts, feds need lots of bait to catch big fish”
By Bob Braun
July 26, 2009, 12:41PM
When it comes to big corruption busts -- like Thursday's arrest of 44 politicians, public employees and
religious leaders -- the laws of nature are reversed. The little fish will eat
the big fish; or, at least they'll try, if it helps them get off the hook.
Comments:
Posted by tomtalltree
July 26, 2009, 5:38PM
Question: “What do you call 44 politicians, public employees and religious leaders being arrested in New
Jersey?”
Answer: “A good start.”
Posted by apathyisus (williamdusenberry@yahoo.com)
July 27, 2009, 12:14AM
I sent Bob Braun three letters, from the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education, stating that the
president of a State university had used a fraudulent academic degree to become president. Ditto: "proof
of pension-padding; no-show professorships; sick-leave abuse; illegal promotions; and political patronage
jobs (totally unnecessary). No research needed. Story -- none. Why? Ask Mr. Braun. Is Mr. Braun part of
the solution (to the fraud in NJ problem) or possibly part of the problem?
Posted by bobbraun
July 27, 2009, 9:39AM
Apathyisus--
And I noted to you that what you consider fraudulent behavior may not be so. In any event, I have never
seen your "three letters from the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education stating that the president
of a State university had used a fraudulent academic degree to become president." I asked you to send
that information to me again so I could review it. You have refused to do so but you apparently enjoying
bashing me anonymously and suggesting I--like the law enforcement agencies you also have not
convinced--am not interested in your allegations of fraud.
If you don't want to send them to me, why don't you name the president here? Why don't you post the
letters? Why are you so afraid?
My name is on everything I write--where's yours? It's easy to froth indignantly at the mouth, making all
sorts of accusations, as long as you can hide behind the negligee of anonymity.
Put up or shut up my friend, and, if you're the brave academic you pretend to be, use your real name and
stop hiding coward-like behind a pseudo-intellectual moniker. Or I will out you.
Posted by jeffcon
July 27, 2009, 10:04AM
Apathyisus- OK, time to man up. Either put up or shut up. I hope you accept the challange.
Posted by maxlaw
July 27, 2009, 5:24PM
Hey Bob:
Maybe he/she is just upset because one or more of his/her favorite comic strips has been "furloughed"
from the Ledger's funny pages!
Posted by apathyisus
July 29, 2009, 1:33AM
Mr. Braun:
On at least three occasions, I have sent you the documentation from the New Jersey Commission of
Higher Education (CHE) acknowledging that New Jersey City University President Carlos Hernandez used a
non-existent MA (master’s degree) to become both NJCU's Academic Vice President and President.
The first CHE letter I sent to you (dated 11/30/98) stated that NJCU President Hernandez "had completed all
academic requirements and was eligible to apply for a master's in 1980 but apparently (he) did not do so."
This admission that Hernandez did not have the MA he had used for 20 years -- was "spun" to make it look
like Hernandez somehow forgot to apply for something he had earned -- and that's why he didn't have it --
and this is a complete fabrication.
No self-respecting reporter would have accepted such crap -- unless told to do so. Were you so told?
The second CHE letter, I sent to you, (dated 6/6/06) stated: "President Hernandez never applied for or
received the master's degree."
The third CHE letter (dated 3/12/08), I sent to you, stated that CHE Executive Director Jane Oates saw
Hernandez’s "use of unawarded credentials that is prohibited by NJAC 9A:1-81.
My wife is a personal friend, of a personal friend of yours, and she knows very well that I sent you these
materials.
The entire story is available by Googling "Fraud at New Jersey City University" (about four from the bottom
of the first page) or go directly to www.njcu-gadfly.com. My web site is posted there, and I will gladly send
copies of the three letters to anyone sending me a postage-paid self-addressed envelope. On my web-
site, I have offered a $10,000 reward to anyone -- including you, Mr. Braun, who can prove that NJCU
President Hernandez did not use fraudulent academic credentials -- and that now goes for your readers
also.
My name is William Dusenberry; williamdusenberry@yahoo.com
Posted by jeffcon
July 29, 2009, 11:09AM
OK Mr. Braun, time for you to man up and do some investigative reporting.
Posted by bobbraun
July 29, 2009, 9:24PM
JEFFCON/APATHYISUS:
I would first invite everyone to open Prof. Dusenberry's website and read it through to the end. I would
congratulate anyone who does that and still retains a modicum of understanding of what he is trying to say.
I would then consider this definition of fraud, randomly selected by Google. For my purposes, it's as good
as any:
``A false representation of a matter of fact--whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading
allegations, or by concealment of what should have been disclosed--that deceives and is intended to
deceive another so that the individual will act upon it to her or his legal injury."
As best as I can determine, Mr. Hernandez allowed to be placed in a catalog a notation that he had
received an MA. He did not, in fact, receive that MA. When Prof. Dusenberry brought that to the attention
of the state, the notation was dropped.
Now what he wants us to believe is that Hernandez became president of what was then Jersey City State
by dint of his misrepresentation. In other words, the people who made him president thought he had an
MA when he really didn't and made him president believing that he did.
If you read his website, you will see that the Governor, the state Senate President, the Attorney General,
the Commission on Higher Education, the trustees of Jersey City State, and the entire faculty of the
college--which, as he notes, rejected his candidacy as union president--knew of his claim. Where is the
deception? Who didn't know? Obviously, the college's trustees--and virtually everyone else--knew
Hernandez didn't have a master's degree, Hernandez admitted he didn't have it, and yet he was made
president anyway.
I am willing to stand corrected, but I know of no requirement that a college president must have a PhD.
The trustees could legally appoint him president with or without a PhD or even an MA.
The key elements of fraud are deception and injury. There was no deception--the trustees knew he didn't
have an MA. Prof. Dusenberry somehow links Mr. Hernandez's lack of graduate degrees to the absurdly
low graduation rate at NJCU--a rate he knows, as I do, was just as low when Bill Maxwell was president.
I agree with Prof. Dusenberry that the higher education board should be reinstated. I agree that it is a
disgrace that all public colleges in New Jersey have absurdly low graduation rates. I have written ad
nauseam about both issues. I do not necessarily agree that a PhD is a requirement for a college
presidency--or represents some sort of magical qualification for anything. Dwight Eisenhower was named
president of Columbia University without a PhD, and he is not the only example.
Perhaps Mr. Hernandez should have been disciplined for allowing the notation of his MA in the catalog.
But the trustees appointed him president AFTER the notation was removed and AFTER the trustees
learned he didn't possess the credential. That is not fraud.
You may disagree with me all you wish, Prof. Dusenberry, but I would caution you against suggesting that I
have some sort of interest in this. I don't agree with your characterization of what occurred as fraud--that
does not mean I was "told" not to write about or that I received some sort of compensation for not writing
about it. To suggest otherwise, I warn you, is actionable and you know it.
Posted by apathyisus
July 30, 2009, 2:45AM
Mr. Braun:
Your statement (immediately above) "But the trustees appointed him president AFTER (your emphasis) the
notation (fraudulent MA) was removed and AFTER (your emphasis) the trustees learned he didn't possess
the credential (Fraudulent MA) That is not fraud."
This statement -- made by you, Mr. Braun, --- is totally and absolutely false. And I promise to pay you
$10,000 if you can provide the proof that this statement is accurate.
NJCU President Hernandez applied for the position of academic vice president using a fraudulent
academic degree (a non-existent MA) and the details about how this was done are detailed on: www.njcu-
gadfly.com
Without engaging in this fraud, Hernandez would have had to apply to become an academic vice president
with only a bachelor's degree. That's why his adding a fraudulent MA to his academic vice presidential job
application was fraud.
Hernandez would not have been hired to be an academic vice president with only an MA -- even the docile
NJCU faculty would have refused to have gone along with a BA academic vice president.
The NJCU faculty launched a nation-wide search to find the best academic vice president available -- and
Hernandez didn't even make the list of the ten finalists -- even with using his phony MA. But with the
usually Hudson County political intrigue, Hernandez became the avp nonetheless.
So, Hernandez became the only academic vice president in the US having only a bachelor's degree; so,
Mr. Braun, you are incapable of identifying fraud here?
Later, Hernandez used his fraudulent MA in his inauguration catalogue; and still uses this phony degree
on his "New Jersey Insider-- Minorities" biography.
In March 2008, the New Jersey's Commission of Higher Education's Executive Director, Jane Oates, sent
me a letter (available) in which she stated "I did not characterize the issue as a typographical error (what
NJCU originally claimed caused the phony MA to appear for 20-years in NJCU's Catalogue) but instead saw
it as a use of an unawarded credentials that is prohibited by N.J.A.C. 9A:1-81.”A person shall not utilize or
append to his name any academic degree as evidence that he has received such a degree." So, Mr.
Braun, was Ms Oates wrong when she wrote this letter?
The sad truth is, Mr. Braun, and a truth that is certainly newsworthy, is that the NJCU Board of Trustees
covered up this fraud -- and under the "Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994" (Governor Whitman's
gift to NJ) -- if a Board of Trustees refuses to do anything about the fraudulent use of academic
credentials -- nothing else can be done ------- except that columnists such as you -- can demand that those
using fraudulent academic credentials be fired (as has happened to several football coaches recently)
and that a Board of Trustees that permits the fraudulent use of academic degrees be asked to resign by
the governor.
And that the faculty at NJCU knows that its president committed fraud -- and refuses to do anything about
it -- that's a story -- and not an indication that I have made baseless accusations as you clearly imply.
20 years ago you championed the State takeover of the Jersey City Board of Education. I traveled to
Trenton and testified before the Assembly's Education Committee in this regard. And you printed my entire
presentation in the Star-Ledger. But now, I don't know what has happened to you; please re-read NJ's
"Fraudulent Academic Degree" statute, and prepare a new and accurate response to my fraud charges
accordingly. Your readers deserve this, and clearly so do I.
Posted by bobbraun
July 30, 2009, 12:44PM
Question: What corporate body is empowered by state law to appoint state college presidents?
Answer: A college's board of trustees.
Question: Under state law, does a candidate need a PhD or even an MA to be a college president?
Answer: No.
Question: Did the Jersey City State College board of trustees appoint Carlos Hernandez president?
Answer: Yes.
Question: At the time the trustees voted to appoint Hernandez president, were board members aware he
did not have an MA?
Answer: Yes.
Question: If, at the time Hernandez was appointed president, he did not claim to have an MA and the
trustees were aware he did not have one, can it be said that Hernandez committed a fraud?
Answer: No.
You are using legal terms of art, Prof. Dusenberry, and I would be very careful. You may be unhappy that
Hernandez became president without the usual credentials. You may be unhappy that, for a while, the
catalog listed him as having an MA he didn't have. But when you accuse someone of fraud, you are
accusing him of criminal behavior. In my judgment--and, clearly, in the judgment of virtually everyone else
in a position to do anything about this--Carlos Hernandez did not defraud the college by becoming its
president. You may go to your grave believing otherwise, and that is your right, but it is not your right to
defame anyone with impunity, including those who disagree with you.
Posted by apathyisus
July 30, 2009, 2:30PM
Mr. Braun:
You've been duped; pure and simple. And it's hard to accept that this has happened to a seasoned,
professional newspaper reporter.
You have somehow concluded (perhaps from asking NJCU how this fraud can possibly be "spun") the
following:
Braun's Question: Did the Jersey City State College board of trustees appoint Carlos Hernandez president?
Answer: Yes. And, we agree about this.
Braun's Question: At the time the trustees voted to appoint Hernandez president, were board members
aware he did not have an MA?
Braun's Answer: Yes. But that's the wrong answer, Mr. Braun.
Hernandez became NJCU's president in 1994 -- the Commission of Higher Education did not instruct
Hernandez to stop using his fraudulent academic degree until 1998 -- and then only because of my
complaint to Governor Whitman.
Braun's Question: If, at the time Hernandez was appointed president, he did not claim to have an MA and
the trustees were aware he did not have one, can it be said that Hernandez committed a fraud?
Braun's answer answer: "No".
But now that you, Mr. Braun, are able to confirm that the Board of Trustees did not know that President
Hernandez had used a non-existent (fraudulent) academic degree (Hernandez became the NJCU President
in 1994 -- and NJCU wasn't instructed to remove his non-existent MA from the NJCU catalogue until 1998)
you have both the duty and the obligation to acknowledge the fact that you've been duped -- and have
been duped over and over again, by NJCU, since I originally "gave" you this story ten years ago.
I have already offered you $10,000 in the event you were able to prove your distorted version of what
happened here -- and you have made no effort to collect this $10,000. Again, let me make this as clear as I
possibly can.
Hernandez became the NJCU President in 1994 -- using a fraudulent MA degree. And this fraudulent
degree was listed in Hernandez’s inauguration booklet (I'll send you the copy). So, at the time he was
interviewed to become president, and when he became president, there is absolutely no proof that the
Board of Trustees knew that he was using a fraudulent academic degree.
I provided Governor Whitman with this information in the spring of 1998 -- and Whitman forwarded my
complaint to the Commission of Higher Education in the fall of 1998.
NJCU told the Commission of Higher Education that President Hernandez’s MA had been placed in the
NJCU Catalogue for the past 20-years -- because of a typographical error. And you, at that time, accepted
this nonsensical explanation.
NJCU was instructed (by the Commission of Higher Education) in November 1998, to remove Hernandez’s
fraudulent MA -- and NJCU had to destroy about 20,000 copies of its year 2000 catalogues in order to do
this (cost to the taxpayers, about $50,00o).
So, the first time the NJCU Board of Trustees became aware that Hernandez had used a fraudulent
academic degree was some time in 1998 -- four years after he had become president using a fraudulent
academic degree.
Those are the facts, Mr. Braun, and if you chose to ignore them, you do so at your own "pride-in-self" peril.
Do the research -- and collect the reward I have offered you in the event that you can prove me wrong.
The time for "spinning" is over. The facts speak for themselves. Full story: www.njcu-gadfly.com
Posted by jeffcon
July 31, 2009, 10:54AM
Sounds fraudulent to me. He was appointed in '94, fraud was discovered in '98.
This whole situation needs some exposure. Perhaps some sunlight will kill the mold.
Mr Baun, you seem determined to defend Hernandez. Why is that? Why not win the $ 10,000.00 and donate
it to a scholarship fund? At least make a stab at being open minded.
Posted by bobbraun
August 01, 2009, 7:29PM
Just do what the man says and read his website, please, and try to follow his logic. I did and I keep coming
back to the same conclusion--as much as he or I or anyone else might not like what Carlos Hernandez or
the board or both did, there is no evidence of criminal fraud.
Even if what he said about what happened in 1994 is accurate, which it's not, even he admits Hernandez'
lack of an MA has now been known for 11 years--through Republican and Democratic administrations alike.
The professor has tried unsuccessfully to persuade all manner of people--from journalists to academics to
politicians to law enforcement--to see the story his way, and no one has. No one cares except the
professor. Has everyone been hypnotized? Bribed? Abducted by aliens and implanted with computer
chips that block their ability to see what only the professor can see?
I frankly don't care about Carlos Hernandez, one way or the other. The story the professor claims to have
simply is not there. And offering $10,000 to disprove it is just plain silly because, in his mind, the story
cannot be disproved. To me, the point is not whether the possession of a degree was inaccurately placed
in a catalog, that's been conceded. The point is, as the professor has contended, the crime of fraud was
committed. It hasn't been.
Prof. Dusenberry can continue this so long as he wants, but I'm done with it. I would just advise him, as
I've advised others, that I will not permit this site to be used to defame others, and that means I will not
allow him or anyone else to say someone has committed a crime unless that person has, in fact, been
convicted of the crime. A libel suit is likely to cost him and this newspaper, maybe both, considerably more
than the $10,000 he is offering.
Posted by apathyisus
August 02, 2009, 10:07AM
So Bob Braun has examined the evidence at least twice in regard to New Jersey City University President
Carlos Hernandez having used a non-existent (fraudulent) academic degree (a master's degree) to initially
become NJCU's Academic Vice President; then nine years later, NJCU's president.
N.J A.C. 9 A: 1 - 81 "Fraudulent Academic Degrees" states: "A person shall not utilize or append to his
name any academic degree...as evidence of receipt of an academic degree unless the person has
received the academic degree." And this is what NJCU President Hernandez did twice; once when he
applied for the Academic Vice Presidency, in 1983, and again when he applied for the presidency in 1992
or so.
Mr. Braun, this is the statute that makes what President Hernandez did in this regard, fraud, and this
statute provides no exception in order for the NJCU Board of Trustees to be able to "overlook" this fraud
- you appear to be almost "Orwellian" Mr. Braun, in your extraordinary attempts to try to "spin" this into
being the case. Why?
Deputy Executive Director Oswald, of the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education first made
President Hernandez's fraud known in her letter dated 11/30/98 - which is about when I contacted you, Mr.
Braun. I gave you a copy of this letter. This letter explained that President Hernandez's non-existent
master's degree was used due to an error in NJCU's Catalog - and that this non-existent degree would be
removed from this catalog - and that "removal of Hernandez's fraudulent academic degree from the NJCU
Catalog satisfied you, Mr. Braun.
The penalty for using a fraudulent academic degree at NJCU - whatever the NJCU Board of Trustees
decides that it wants it to be. So, termination (as has happened to several football coaches recently) or
"overlook it and try to cover it up" (as is clearly the case at NJCU).
You attempted to trivialize my long-going complaint by pointing out that no investigative unit would accept
my complaint. And here's why.
Mr. Braun, because you initially considered reporting about this fraud story, your effort became the
"benchmark." When anyone else contacted NJCU about this fraud, they were told that you had already
looked into it and found no violations of NJ law.
Then when I tried to file a complaint with the Attorney General - and was told that the Attorney General
would defend the NJCU President against any fraud charges, that became a second benchmark. Now any
reporters were told that you, Mr. Braun, had found nothing, and either had the Attorney General.
Then after the Commission of Higher Education sent me the letter - attributing the fraudulent academic
degree to a "typographical error" that would be corrected, the CHE became the third benchmark.
Every time I contacted someone else, to do something about this fraud, NJCU referred them to these
"benchmarks" to dissuade them from examining the evidence (documents) which speak for themselves.
Your possible reason for doing noting initially:
Someone at NJCU possibly persuaded you that President Hernandez was part of an "Affirmative Action
Program" and that exposing him for having used fraud, would damage and thereby undermine the entire
effort. President Hernandez had now become the highest ranking (and highest paid) Hispanic in the State
-- and as the rules were broken when Hernandez was initially hired as a college instructor in 1974 (he was
hired to teach college with only a bachelor's degree, and no teaching experience) whoever was his
"Godfather" was still in control.
Your probable reason for doing nothing now: (now that it's been demonstrated that President Hernandez
clearly committed fraud)
You, Mr. Braun, simply don't want to admit that you were used, spun, or otherwise bamboozled. And,
unfortunately, this is how I, and hopefully those reading this, will remember you. And, again unfortunately,
this raises questions about everything else you've ever written, or will continue to write.
End of my "debate" with Bob Braun
But, whatever happens with Whitman’s Folly, whether it’s published or not, some positive benefits have
already come to NJCU. But, I guess, it depends on what one means by "benefits."
Duplicate references, problems associated with chronological order, and the over-use of both “WD" and
Whitman’s Folly will be addressed during the editing process -- which will begin as soon as appropriate
suggestions and additions are incorporated into this “work-in-progress.”
Temporary End -- please check back periodically