Thursday Jul 17
Dr. Trani and VCUs Board Of Visitors had the option after their internal investigation into Rodney Monroe’s Degree qualifications to correct the ‘error’ as they stated that Monroe was issued a degree at the university that was not appropriately earned at VCU. Their failure to correct this ‘error’ as they put it, is shameful and harmful to all VCU students and grads who all had to comply with the very well published rules of requirements to earn a degree at the university. Even the website clearly states that it is the student’s responsibility to be aware of what requirements are in place and qualifications necessary to earn a degree at VCU. It does not include taking only 1/5 of the required classes everyone else has to take to establish residency at the college. Minor exceptions are allowed for life experience or business experience, but for a university to allow and then continue to support awarding a degree when the holder only took 2 classes at the university is unconscionable.
If he has the credits, then his degree should say University of Phoenix, not VCU. Furthermore, he doctored his resume for the Chief of Police application in Charlotte by claiming his degree was in criminal justice. It was not, it was an ‘interdisciplinary studies’ or, a generic degree which is only supposed to be offered according to VCUs rules/guidelines if a student needs a curriculum NOT otherwise offered. Criminal Justice is a legitimate course of study at VCU and apparenlty that is what Monroe wanted to claim to have earned.
Furthermore, he’s being investigated as to why he reportedly broke the rules regarding City of Richmond tuition reimbursements to University of Phoenix and VCU. Allegedly he put his tuitions on a city credit card in full in advance of all classes. The rules say employees must front the monies for courses and be reimbursed up to a stated limit per course or semester upon successful completion, meaning probably earning a C or better.
Charlotte should have suspended the search process for the Police Chief temporarily while this was going on if Monroe at the time was high up in the running. Furthermore, upon doctoring his resume (which he has publicly admitted as ‘another mistake’) and by VCUs admission that his degree was issued in ‘error’ he should have been released from his duties.
If Monroe wanted to stand up as a real man he would ask University of Phoenix to grant him a degree at that school and return VCUs degree.
Students and recent graduates at VCU are in an uproar over these actions by one highly public individual and the school’s failure to correct it’s ‘error.’ They are asking for refunds, initiating transfers and asking certain upper officials step down. Rightfully so. The school is being investigated by its accreditation authority and it would be a tragedy for all if VCU loses accreditation or is heavily sanctioned for the lack of action in correcting the Monroe degree issue.
VCU is a fine university and many people have worked very hard towards the recognition VCU deserves. It’s a terrible shame that the actions of a few have created this event and bad publicity for the college, and that they, knowing accreditation is on the line, failed to act appropriately on behalf of the university and its students to correct the ‘error.’
MY THOUGHTS:
Emiel Fisher, PI, PPS
The following article came from a BLOG response regarding the x-Chief of Police for the City of Richmond, Virginia, RODNEY MONROE, who left Richmond for the same job in Charlotte, North Carolina a few months ago. I live in a county surrounding Richmond and was interested in seeing how the education thing played out. It seems that Mr. Monroe walks both sides of the “I am an idiot and also a liar” fence, of course, only when it suits his needs. He (cliché) claims he “thought” he had all of the required hours and dumped his bogus request in the laps of Virginia Commonwealth University for his degree. Let’s just cut through the crap here and say he knew he didn’t have the required courses, but was looking for a sweetheart deal, which the VCU upper crust granted to him for reasons of idiocy because it was text book fraud.
There is an old phrase I use every now and then when speaking of corrupt government employees and political scum and that is “Caesars Wife” which means basically, “above reproach, beyond suspicion”. Mr. Monroe being the Chief of Police should learn this phrase and follow suit. If he is using the degree VCU granted him through fraud to get jobs, then I believe this speaks volumes about the man’s character, ethics and morals and that’s all I am going to say about that.
I should say that I DID graduate from VCU with a degree in Criminal Justice in 1985 and I new exactly how many credit hours I had at any given time. I didn’t pay for it with the City of Richmond’s credit card (I worked at the City Jail, graveyard shift) I paid for it through work and loans all of which I paid back personally.
I don’t know what Dr. Trani (President of VCU) was thinking when he Ok’ed giving Monroe his degree even after being informed that Monroe didn’t qualify. All he did was set back a school, and a degree program and spit in the face of every student who worked hard, followed the rules, and graduated with a degree they cherished as unique. It is not Monroe who should be looked at here so much as the people calling the shots at VCU. Monroe was just doing was a lowlife does and that is cheat the system if they think they can get away with it. Trani heard what happened and could have done the right thing and taken the degree back. No one would have blamed him. But he didn’t, he showed himself to be gutless and propitiate a wrong and this I find much more disturbing. In sports and life one learns that no one person is bigger than the game itself. Trani, by his decision has stated that Monroe is bigger than the City of Richmond, the people of Richmond and the students past and present at VCU and is above remand. This is truly SAD.
Filed under: Investigations | 1 Comment »


