Questions swirl around Fla. candidate’s Ohio college ties
State House District 73 candidate Melissa Howard is facing questions about her time as a student at Miami University in Ohio. She’s running for a state House seat in Florida against Tommy Gregory, right.
telling the truth” about her rating from the National Rifle Association and her college degree.
The website Florida News Online — which bills itself as “The conservative choice for Florida news & politics” — posted a story earlier in the week noting Howard “appears not to have the academic credentials she’s claiming.”
The story cited records from the National Student Clearinghouse indicating Howard attended Miami University in Oxford, but did not graduate. It notes that “Miami University calls the clearinghouse its ‘authorized agent for providing degree verification for graduates...’”
The article goes on to state that Howard “offered to send yearbook pictures and even provided a picture of her at a graduation ceremony. When FLA News asked for the one document that would verify graduation — a diploma — Howard promised to send an electronic copy but did not, saying it was in her mother’s storage unit in Ohio. Howard
Her campaign consultant later said Howard did not graduate in 1994 because she was one credit short, and that she later completed it in 1996.
But in an email, Parker raises questions about the image of a diploma that eventually was produced.
In the image, the diploma states “The president and trustees of Miami University upon approval of the Faculty have conferred upon Melissa Marie Fox the degree of bachelor of science in marketing.” Fox is Howard’s maiden name.
Howard said in an interview with the Herald-Tribune that she discovered the framed diploma during her trip back to Ohio, saying her mom had stashed the document in a storage unit.
But after Howard shared the diploma, Miami University’s Parker said, “Melissa Marie Fox, DOB 12/25/71, does not have a degree from Miami University.”
Parker’s email goes on to state that “the picture of the diploma that was posted on the HowardforHouse73 Facebook page does not appear to be an accurate Miami University diploma.”
Parker notes in her email that Miami
University doesn’t even offer a degree in marketing.
“Miami University’s degree for Marketing majors then, as it is now, was a Bachelor of Science in Business,” Parker wrote.
Parker also notes that the diploma lists two names, James C. Garland and Robert C. Johnson.
“Miami University diplomas contain the signature of the President of the University and the dean of the academic division of the degree,” Parker writes. “While, James C. Garland was President of Miami University in 1996, Robert C. Johnson was Dean of the Graduate School.”
That means Johnson was not the dean of the academic division Howard claims to have received a degree from, and his name should not have been on her degree.
Howard could not be reached for comment Saturday about Parker’s email. Her campaign consultant, Anthony Pedicini, said in a text message that Howard’s husband had a “cardiac event” Friday evening and is in the hospital.
“Melissa is focused on her family — not fake news this morning,” Pedicini wrote.