Is Cover-Up Underway?,He WondersMore Questions Put to University In Misuse Case
The leader of the Oklahoma Press Association said Tuesday that Langston University officials need to stop “stonewalling” and answer the questions the Black Chronicle has asked as the newspaper continues covering an embezzlement case at the school.
Mark Thomas, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Press Association, issued a statement on Tuesday saying he finds it “unacceptable” that university officials appear to be attempting a cover-up of what university officials have done after discovering that at least one employee at the school had been embezzling possibly federal funds.
A university spokesman has confirmed that the embezzlement scheme began about a year before it was discovered in June.
“It is completely unacceptable for Langston University, a part of the [state A&M colleges system], to be stonewalling and delaying answering the very simple and straightforward questions asked by the Black Chronicle about the recently reported embezzlement case” at the school, the executive vice president of the state press association said.
“It happened in June,” Mr. Thomas wrote in the statement. Well, this is September.”
The Black Chronicle reported in its Aug. 28 edition that the university had confirmed it had fired Karen M. Matthews after the school discovered in June a misuse of funds scheme.
Miss Matthews, who was fired on July 16, had been an administrative assistant who worked for the Langston Community Development Corporation.
She, along with the executive director of the LCDC, have both been fired, but a university spokesman said the school believes that only Miss Matthews is guilty of criminal conduct.
It is believed that the LCDC operates with grant funds issued by the federal Department of Housing & Urban Development.
The university spokesman said that, after discovering the embezzlement plot, the university and LCDC had asked the district attorney to pursue criminal charges against Miss Matthews.
But a representative from the Logan County District Attorney’s Office has repeatedly said it had never been contacted by Langston regarding the embezzlement case.
Miss Matthews, when contacted at her home, seemed to be surprised that Langston had said it had pursued criminal charges against her.
“Did y’all call Langston or did Langston call you all?,” Miss Matthews said when asked to confirm if she had been fired for embezzlement.
“Has Langston put out a story on me?,” she asked, raising questions about whether she had been promised she would not be prosecuted.
“The public needs to know if there have been lies or attempts to cover criminal behavior by university personnel or leaders,” the executive director of the press association said.
After the Black Chronicle contacted Langston about three weeks ago, the paper was referred to the public information officer of the school.
Ashley Gibson, the Langston spokesman, initially said she could not answer many of the questions being asked about the embezzlement case, but then issued a demand that the questions be asked under the Oklahoma Open Records Act.
Then, several days after the questions were presented, the spokesman answered only some of the questions, saying the school was not required to answer all of them under the Open Records Act.
Subsequently, some of the questions the school refused to answer were answered when other media organizations asked them following the Black Chronicle’s Aug. 28 stories.
At least two media groups have said the Langston spokesman never required them to make inquiries under the Open Records Act.
KWTV (Channel 9) did a news story on Tuesday based on the Aug. 28 Black Chronicle stories, and the Tulsa World and the Oklahoman have done news stories this week about the Langston embezzlement case.
The Guthrie News Leader is expected to do a story this week.
Just yesterday, the Black Chronicle issued a number of additional questions to Langston.
“Langston says it has contacted the district attorney and others about pressing criminal charges,” Mark Thomas of the Oklahoma Press Association said.
“If that is true, where is the district attorney, and why hasn’t he pressed any criminal charges?”
“Another simple question has to do with when Langston knew that Karen M. Matthews had previous convictions,” the Oklahoma Press Association leader said in his statement.
“Langston’s refusal to answer would indicate they did not make any background check or follow any such procedures before entrusting Karen Matthews with public funds,” Mr. Thomas said.
“This is another unacceptable situation that is only made worse by Langston’s refusal to answer this basic question,”
he continued.
Other media have reported that the university has told them the university never knew about Miss Matthews’ criminal felony convictions.
“Before any university receives public funds,” Mr. Thomas of the press association wrote, “it must first have the public’s trust, but delays and refusals to answer simple questions destroys that public trust, not only now, but for years to come.”
“The Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents and others in positions of leadership at Langston University,” Mr. Thomas continued, “know they should quickly and accurately address these issues.
“Failure to do so is an indicator that they are more concerned about their public image than the public trust.”
