[videowaywire video_id=”15EBD9CF0053D0D9″]
*Howard University’s President confirmed Wednesday that six financial aid officers were fired after misappropriating funds earmarked for low-income students for nearly a decade, and Twitter wasted no time going in on one of the alleged culprits.
This all started when an anonymous (now suspended) post on Medium.com claimed financial aid employees at HU stole nearly $1 million in grant money. Howard’s President Wayne A.I. Frederick then confirmed this week that he’s known about the wrongdoing since late 2016, and launched an internal investigation in December of that year. That’s when an outside auditor discovered that from 2007 through 2016, phony grants were created and awarded to financial aid employees who were also registered for University courses.
In some cases, these employees qualified for tuition remission and therefore weren’t charged tuition for their classes. Despite this, they still received large grants and scholarships that exceeded amounts generally awarded to normal students. These grants almost always exceeded legally allowed amounts.
In a statement, Frederick said the issue was reported to the Department of Education in July 2017, and six employees were fired two months later for “gross misconduct and neglect of duties.”
The stolen grant money came from institutional funds that help low-income students pay tuition. Frederick said the grants came from the university and were not federal or donor funds.
Former student employee Tyrone Hankerson Jr. emerged as the face of the scandal after being accused in the Medium post of scamming $429,000 through stolen need-based tuition aid and a special scholarship.
Needless to say, he was promptly dragged and memed back to the quad.
This man stole $429,000 in Financial Aid at Howard y’all
Tyrone Hankerson, a student-employee in the Financial Aid office. Set to graduate! & Got caught
This the iconic photo we found on his Facebook??✊?
Mink Coat, Designer Bag, the FINESSE GOD TYRONE ☠☠I am DEAD pic.twitter.com/PQrYQaPXzJ
— Lew Sid (@LewSidRaps) March 28, 2018
“Dawg I may not be able to come back next year, Financial aid tripping”
Tyrone: pic.twitter.com/Cr63wINzFr
— Jordan (@BlackrThaBerry) March 28, 2018
Y’all can’t even spell embezzlement #Tyrone #HowardUniversity pic.twitter.com/wR78cZhzYr
— Tyrone’s Fur Coat (@miss_boombostic) March 28, 2018
Surveillance footage of Tyrone answering student calls in HU Financial Aid Office… pic.twitter.com/i9o5ucZ8Cj
— G O L D I E. (@goldietaylor) March 28, 2018
No but seriously, is Tyrone having a yard sale before he goes to jail? pic.twitter.com/HScQYVpMYV
— CorEy Townsend (@JarrieBradshaw) March 28, 2018
In a statement released by Hankerson’s attorney, the former student employee denies any wrongdoing.
“Please know that I have done nothing illegal or wrong. When the truth comes out it will be confirmed that I followed all rules and protocol with the approval of the, then, financial aid officers in any grants, scholarships or awards given to me as a student who attended class all year round and traveled abroad,” he said in the statement shared by ABC News on Twitter.
Read in full below:
ABC News has received the following statement on behalf of Tyrone Hankerson Jr. pic.twitter.com/hIA8uaIlG3
— Anastasia (@AnastasiaElyseW) March 28, 2018
A man who worked in the financial aid office for years said he tried to report inappropriate activity.
“It was a culture of fear where you had a lot of people who were afraid of the powers that be in the office,” he said. He asked News4 to withhold his name.
“When these things were brought to [officials’] attention, they were just handled in a way that made people afraid to speak up. And that whole culture is still present, and it starts from the top,” he continued.
Meanwhile, irate students are planning a protest and have called for the resignation of President Frederick.
Read his full response to the scandal below:
In accordance with my commitment to continuous progress, in February 2015, I initiated a proactive review of the Howard University Office of Financial Aid to ensure the office was providing the best support to our campus community.
As part of this process, I was alerted in December 2016 that there may have been some misappropriation of University-provided financial aid funds. From the moment I was alerted that there may have been a misappropriation of funds, I have taken this situation extremely seriously. I immediately informed the Board of Trustees, and together we moved swiftly to begin an internal investigation. The University immediately engaged an outside auditor (RSM) to determine whether there had been any misappropriation of Howard University funds by staff in the Office of Financial Aid or elsewhere, and if so, the magnitude of that misappropriation. The auditors completed their investigation and reported the results to me in May 2017.
The investigation found that from 2007 to 2016, University grants were given to some University employees who also received tuition remission. The audit revealed that the combination of University grants and tuition remission exceeded the total cost of attendance. As a result, some individuals received inappropriate refunds. Note that University grants are institutional funds used to help support students with student charges. They are not federal funds or donor directed funds.
In July 2017, I self-reported this issue to the Department of Education and assured them we would provide regular updates on the investigation.
An investigation of individual employee actions was completed in September 2017 and as a result, six employees have been fired for gross misconduct and neglect of duties. We will refer this matter for criminal prosecution, as appropriate.
Third Coast Higher Education, another outside expert, was also brought in specifically to determine if any misappropriation of federal funds occurred. At this point, Third Coast found no misappropriation of federal funds related to this issue.
The financial integrity of Howard University’s operations is paramount and strong measures have been taken following the RSM investigation to ensure this never happens again. As part of these reform efforts, significant new policies and procedures have been implemented to strengthen Howard’s internal controls with respect to the awarding of financial aid, including:
• Annual budgets for each category of financial aid are now loaded into the University’s Banner student information system by the University Budget Office consistent with the University’s overall Financial Aid Budget.
• Approval for all awards of University Grants are now reviewed and approved by the Budget Office prior to being awarded by the Financial Aid Office
• Approval for all donor-designated scholarship awards are now reviewed and approved by the Controller’s Office prior to being awarded by the Financial Aid Office.
• Approval for all grant-funded financial aid are now reviewed and approved by the University’s Grant Accounting Unit prior to being awarded by the Financial Aid Office.
• Access to the Banner financial aid module has now been limited to a small number of appropriate senior University individuals, with adequate third-party review and appropriate segregation of duties.
• An annual reconciliation of awarded financial aid to approved financial aid is now being conducted.
• Management has established proper reporting relationships and segregation of duties within the Financial Aid Office.
• Management is in the process of hiring for all remaining open positions in the Financial Aid Office and enhanced training on policies and procedures will be provided both to new hires and continuing employees.
• A new Associate Provost for Enrollment Management and a new Chief Compliance Officer have been hired by the University.
While this has been a very difficult and disappointing situation, I know our campus community deserves better and I am committed to ensuring that each of our campus offices operate with integrity and are the best that higher education has to offer.
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