List of animals with fraudulent diplomas

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Animals have been submitted as applicants in suspected diploma mills in several cases. On some occasions the animal has been not only admitted, but granted a degree. In one case, a cat's degree helped lead to a successful fraud prosecution against the institution which issued it.

Contents 1 Cats 1.1 Colby Nolan 1.2 Oliver Greenhalgh 1.3 Henrietta Goldacre 1.4 Oreo Collins 1.5 George 1.6 Tobias F. Schaeffer 1.7 Kitty O'Malley 2 Dogs 2.1 Chester Ludlow 2.2 John I. Rocko 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Cats

[edit] Colby Nolan

Colby Nolan is a housecat who was awarded an MBA degree in 2004 by Trinity Southern University, a Dallas, Texas-based diploma mill, sparking a fraud lawsuit by the Pennsylvania attorney general's office.^[1]

Colby Nolan belongs to a deputy attorney general. In looking to expose Trinity Southern University for fraud, some undercover agents had the then six-year-old Colby Nolan obtain a bachelor's degree in business administration for $299. On the cat's application, the agents claimed that the cat had previously taken courses at a community college, worked at a fast-food restaurant, babysat, and maintained a newspaper route. Then the school informed Colby that, due to the job experience listed on his application, he was eligible for an executive MBA for $100 more. The agents then sent for Colby's transcript, which claimed that Nolan had a 3.5 grade point average.

Jerry Pappert, Pennsylvania's attorney general, filed a lawsuit against Trinity Southern University upon learning that the cat had received the degree.^[2] In the lawsuit, Pappert also told the diploma mill, which had used e-mail spam to sell degrees, to provide restitution to anyone who had ordered a degree from them.

In December 2004 the Texas Attorney General obtained a temporary restraining order under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act against Trinity Southern and its owners, Craig B. and Alton S. Poe. The court also ordered the school's assets frozen.^[3] In March 2005 the Poes were assessed fines and were ordered not to market or promote fraudulent, substandard degree programs or to represent their university as being accredited or affiliated with legitimate universities.^[4] It was reported that the Poes also were associated with the names Wesleyan International University and Prixo Southern University.^[4] Since 2005, Trinity Southern University's website at www.trinitysouthernuniversity.org is offline.

[edit] Oliver Greenhalgh

On December 11, 1967, The Times reported that Oliver Greenhalgh had been accepted as a Fellow of the English Association of Estate Agents and Valuers, after a payment of eleven guineas (his two references were not taken up). Oliver Greenhalgh was a cat belonging to Michael Greenhalgh, a cameraman with Television Wales and the West who were investigating bogus professional associations.^[5]

[edit] Henrietta Goldacre

Ben Goldacre, a UK-based doctor and science journalist, obtained a diploma in nutrition from the American Association of Nutritional Consultants for his dead cat, Henrietta, while investigating allegations about the qualifications claimed by Gillian McKeith.^[6]

[edit] Oreo Collins

Oreo C. Collins (born circa 2007) is a tuxedo cat who gained notoriety when she received a diploma from Jefferson High School Online in 2009, although her age was misrepresented in order to qualify.^[7] The sting was an investigative operation by the Better Business Bureau of Central Georgia, which is headed by Kelvin Collins, Oreo's owner.^[8]

[edit] George

In the UK, George was registered with the British Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming (BBNLP), the United Fellowship of Hypnotherapists (UFH) and the Professional Hypnotherapy Practitioner Association (PHPA).^[9]

[edit] Tobias F. Schaeffer

In 1986, Rhode Island real estate appraiser Roy Schaeffer obtained a Certified Real Estate Appraiser (CREA) designation from the National Association of Real Estate Appraisers (NAREA) for his cat, Tobias F (for Feline) Schaeffer. He displayed his certification above his litter box. NAREA's fraud and defamation lawsuit was dismissed after two years of legal wrangling.^[10][11]

[edit] Kitty O'Malley

In 1973, Florida newspaper The Ledger obtained a high school diploma from "Washington High Academy" for "Kitty O'Malley", a cat also known as Spanky. While the diploma was deemed not sufficient to gain Kitty admission to local colleges, the state attorney general's office planned to investigate the institution.^[12]

[edit] Dogs

[edit] Chester Ludlow

In June 2009 a pug dog from Vermont named Chester Ludlow received an online MBA from Rochville University. The dog's degree was shipped from a post office box in Dubai just one week after the dog submitted $499 and his resume to the online school. Along with the MBA diploma, Chester received "two sets of college transcripts, a certificate of distinction in finance, and a certificate of membership in the student council."^[13]

[edit] John I. Rocko

It was alleged during a trial on drug charges that (John I.) Rocko, a police dog, had the same criminal justice degree from Concordia College and University as the local police chief in Fostoria, Ohio, John McGuire.^[14][15]

[edit] See also

• Diploma mill
• List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
• Who's Who scam

[edit] References