-For Fraud
The Special Committee to Investigate Academic Fraud at the University of Liberia, A. Romeo Horton College of Business and Public Administration, 104th Commencement Convocation of the University of Liberia (UL), has recommended the names of several instructional staff for dismissal and suspension. The committee recommendations followed a thorough investigation that was conducted on the recent graduation exercise involving Dr. Dorr Cooper, a government official.
According to the committee report on academic fraud at the UL, the following officials, Jonathan Kangar, Support Staff (OIT), Thurston Lewis, Public Administration Clearing officer, and Arthur B. Sharpe, Chairman of the Public Administration Department, be dismissed for their criminal actions in the recent graduation scandal and as well as Mercy W. Koquoi, Data entry clerk (OES), Shadrach K. Pah, Dean of Admission, Goffa K. Suah, Teaching Assistant, Remsee Deranamie, Deputy Registrar, Augustine Z. Garpi, OES Coordinator, and Lawrence Seitua, Assistant Dean of Admission be suspended for six months without pay.
On September 23, 2024, the UL set up a five-member investigation Committee constituted by the Vice President of Academic Affairs of the UL, Professor Dr. Agnes Reeves-Taylor, with the mandate to conduct a thorough investigation to ascertain whether D. Dorr Cooper is a student of the University of Liberia and how he was able to obtain the University’s Clarence and academical for graduation.
Accordingly, Dr. Taylor was alerted on a fraudulent candidate who was poised to graduate although he was never a student of the University according to the University’s records as such, based on the information provided, she requested Dr. Edwin B. R. Gbargaye, Assistant Professor and Acting Dean of the College to check the candidates’ listing of the Department of Public Administration particularly, number 18 of the final roaster that was approved for graduation by the Faculty Senate.
However, the special committee report disclosed that upon Dr. Taylor’s instruction, the Dean checked the list, and it was confirmed that Mr. Cooper’s name was on the list for graduation, at which time they contacted Thurston Lewis and Arthur B. Sharpe concerning Dr. Taylor’s assertion, and they both informed her that they did not know how the name appeared on the Department final list of graduating candidates.
The report also mentioned that despite their denial, D. Dorr Cooper was cleared for graduation by the Department, but following the information, the Dean was instructed to remove his name without any delay.
“The Committee reviewed records from the university’s digital service provider, the Department of Public Administration spreadsheets, and grade input sheets from 2015-2024. We also reviewed the university’s student enrollment records from 2015-2024 as well as students’ ledger for the period under review,” the report stated.
Also, the findings of the investigation revealed that the university’s records were altered, and a student, Dahngbaye M. Wogbeh, with Identification Number 26371, was fraudulently replaced with Mr. Cooper by Kollie T. Kamara, a former employee of the University, and Mr. Cooper managed to surreptitiously do one senior course, Public Enterprise and Public Administration (PADM 406) in 2017/2018 second semester and obtained an (F) grade under Mr. Prince Wisseh, who taught the course according to the Department of Public Administration records.
“The Committee discovered that on May 10, 2024, another modification was made to the Identification number 26371 by Jonathan Kangar, who swapped NIOME NOWAH TYLER, a 2019 graduate of the University records and placed it under the Identification number 26371 that is now bearing the name, D. Dorr Cooper. The purpose of this alteration or swapping was to allow D. Cooper to graduate using NIOME NOWAH TYLER’s grades or records,” the report stated.
The report added Mr. Cooper was updated in the university’s records system by Mercy W. Koquoi, who mistakenly typed D. Dor Cooper, leaving out one of the Rs in the name, and it was further revealed during the investigation that Lawrence F. Seitua, being familiar with the name, corrected the spelling of the name by adding the other (r) that was left out by Mercy making it D. Dorr Cooper, which raises suspicion about his role in the saga.
The report pointed out that Thurston Lewis informed the Committee that he raised concern upon seeing the name Dorr Cooper on the Public Administration clearing roster before the final list was submitted to the Dean of the College, but his assertions were all proven false when his teammates on the PADM Clearing team, Goffa Suah, and Foday Jaleiba admitted that the name in question remained on the final list until Dr. Taylor called the attention of the Dean to it.
The report continues that Foday Jaleiba, who sincerely admitted clearing Dorr Cooper’s name for graduation, along with Lewis, who previously denied having any knowledge, but Arthur B. Sharpe denied knowing the name and the person bearing the name Dorr Cooper.
But, unfortunately, further investigation established that Sharpe knows Mr. Cooper well and has interacted with him and introduced him to Dr. Lester Tenny for clearance during the 103rd Commencement clearing process as such, the Committee discovered that Goffa K. Suah approved Mr. Cooper in the system although being fully aware that he is not a student of the department and Mr. Augustine Z. Garpi helped in the distribution of the money received from Mr. Cooper.
Moreover, the report highlighted that in the University handbook, there are only two ways of becoming a student, either by taking an entrance examination and making a pass to become a student or being transferred from an accredited university, but none of these were done by Dorr Cooper.
“He did not take any entrance exam at the University, nor was he transferred from any recognized university within Liberia. Mr. Cooper is not a student of the University of Liberia,” the report stated.
It mentioned that a comparative analysis was conducted between Niome Nowah Tyler’s ledger information and the grades placed on the ledger bearing the ID number 26371. It was discovered that the grades along with the student biodata were the same, and Niome’s ledger information was fraudulently placed on the ledger bearing the name Dorr Cooper,” the report stated.
The committee believes that such a notable name can’t be cleared for graduation without the involvement of the Department of Public Administration or staffers of OES as such, the clearing officer of the Department, the Chairman of the Department, and all others mentioned in this investigation report be held liable and punitive action be taken against them.
The committee further recommended the following: subsequent clearance process be based on ledgers of students from the requisite Department to avoid the detection of backlogged grades as in the case of Dorr Cooper and many others who graduated unnoticed, distribute a Roster of applicants for graduation to all department heads one week before faculty senate meeting for graduation clearance and Dorr Cooper be prosecuted by the Ministry of Justice for academic fraud.
“This recommendation is based on the premise that a transcript does not provide detailed information about a student’s total records to determine eligibility for graduation since it is a summary of their total work. Instead, a student’s ledger is the appropriate record to be used since it bears the student’s detailed information,” the report stated.
