The Tribune

By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

NEARLY two years after Sojourner-Douglass College lost its accreditation and closed its doors in Maryland, former students of its satellite campus in Nassau are no closer to resolving outstanding allegations of erroneous transcripts, gross negligence and fraud.

Tempers boiled at a town hall meeting on Tuesday at BCPOU Hall, where irate former students and parents demanded the name of anyone that could be held accountable for thousands of dollars and invaluable time and effort spent pursuing an academic degree.

Tuesday’s meeting was organised by a small group of concerned students under the theme “Justice for Sojourner-Douglass students,” for which there is a Facebook group under the same name.

Lead co-ordinator and former student Toni Ingraham told The Tribune yesterday that the initial group of about five students has swelled to include some 60 persons. They have retained legal counsel.

Ms Ingraham said there was an active police investigation into suspected fraud in connection with the issuance of at least three degrees from the institution this year. The Tribune was unable to confirm the status of the investigation with police but received copies of the disputed certificates.

Ms Ingraham was among the list of students that had completed their respective programmes and were awaiting their degrees.

Like many others, Ms Ingraham told The Tribune that both her academic and professional careers have been stunted by the ordeal as she is unable to meet requirements of a promotion that she was tapped to receive on the completion of her degree.

She said that the group met with Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd, but were reportedly told to exhaust all avenues before seeking assistance from the government.

Sojourner-Douglass’ US campus closed its doors in 2015 after it lost its accreditation in July and could not afford to reopen without the federal funding that was hinged on that validation.

However, its Bahamas campus did not close until the following July, when students were told that there would be no registration for the fall semester, and were advised to settle their accounts in order to receive official transcripts.

The building on East Bay Street was shuttered by property owners in August 2016 and is now reportedly in liquidation.

At that time, The Tribune understands there were some 130 active students.

At Tuesday’s town hall meeting, former academic advisor Gail Johnson was bombarded with questions from former students that settled their accounts and paid for transcripts but did not receive the official documents, and others that said they received transcripts that were filled with errors like incorrect grades and missing courses.

Former students repeatedly questioned why administration allowed registration and courses to continue after the institution lost its accreditation, and also took issue with the failure of education officials to monitor its activities to ensure the protection of Bahamian students.

On the defensive as she pushed back at attempts of those present to assign culpability, Ms Johnson reiterated that she was not an executive and could not answer those questions.

Speaking to the issue of transcripts, she said: “All of the grades for every transcript are still in the building, all of the grades from back in 1994 are still in the building.”

Sojourner-Douglass (Bahamas) was in operation from 1988. The college also had satellite campuses in other areas in Maryland – Owings Mills, Lanham, Cambridge, Annapolis and Salisbury.

A company search undertaken by former students revealed that the institution was registered as a Bahamian company and had not paid company licence fees since 2008.

There were also no annual statements filed, which would identify members of the board of directors.

Yesterday, former Executive Director and Dean Theresa Moxey-Ingraham explained that there was only an advisory board established locally, but declined to provide the names of those members.

Mrs Moxey-Ingraham was appointed last week as executive chairman of the National Training Agency.

She explained to The Tribune that she was fired from the school in August 2016 and could not speak to decisions made after that time.