St. John's University and Administrative Fraud...slave labor, sex, suicide, $$$, and A LOT of questi

[jjs07]

I knew bits and pieces of this story, but one of my buddies emailed me a link to this article last night:

The Dean of Corruption

Cecilia Chang, the St. John’s fund-raiser who committed suicide after her epic fraud was exposed, tried to keep her superiors happy with gifts of watches, vacations, custom suits, and fine wine. It worked, for a while.

Cecilia Chang had always been a meticulous planner, so it made sense that she left three notes at the scene of her suicide, each prepared for a specific audience. The previous day, Monday, November 5, 2012, she’d tied up a loose end, testifying at her own trial and admitting to defrauding her employer, St. John’s University. She’d stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars, living a superrich life on a university salary that at its peak was $120,000. The next day, like every day, she was flawlessly put together, her hair carefully arranged to conceal a thinning spot. She wore one of her flowery, silky blouses with a fitted black jacket.

Then, in her Jamaica Estates home, where the government said she’d forced scholarship students to clean and cook, she turned on the gas in the kitchen, slit her wrists, and, when the desired result didn’t come quickly enough, tossed a stereo cord over the ladder to the attic and hung herself. The notes, carefully written in Chinese, were found at the scene. One was to her only son: “I love you,” she wrote, and she apologized to him. Another, to the judge and jury, with a politeness she maintained till the end, thanked them for their time and attention. The third, the most elaborate, she addressed to her employer, for whom she reserved her fury. She’d been a fund-raiser at St. John’s for three decades, bringing in millions of dollars. And in the end, she felt the school had abandoned her. “She felt betrayed by them,” said one of her attorneys. In her note, she used a word to describe herself that was translated as scapegoat.

Rest of Article in Link

It's a LONG read, but it uncovers layers upon layers of fraud going on at St. John's over a span of decades. It goes from bribery of students into slave-like labor, Chang's sexual relationship with a priest on campus, etc. That being said, to me, it seems like Chang took the fall while Harrington's transgressions are being excused/ignored. I mean, the guy had shady dealings with some of his own administrators, real estate deals on the side, etc. etc.

For anyone who currently goes there, is there pressure on Harrington to resign? I also wonder if more will be uncovered as the months go on? When there's smoke, there's fire....

 

[jhawk826]

Story is wild. I'll need to read up on this in detail. Haven't heard anything about this until now.

 

[jjs07]

Story is wild. I'll need to read up on this in detail. Haven't heard anything about this until now.

It blew my mind.

I mean, Chang had foreign exchange students doing slave-labor return for a scholarship. This lady had the scam running for decades. There were a lot of blind eyes turned to what she was doing.

 

[superantigen]

Poverty is indeed a virtue.



...

 

[rook]

If this is going on at St. Johns, imagine what goes on at other colleges man.

College man...**** is crazy wild

 

[johnnyredstorm]

School is such a joke. All the higher ups are corrupt and tuition is ridiculously overpriced for the level of education you receive.

 

[dayman]

Story is wild. I'll need to read up on this in detail. Haven't heard anything about this until now.

It blew my mind.

I mean, Chang had foreign exchange students doing slave-labor return for a scholarship. This lady had the scam running for decades. There were a lot of blind eyes turned to what she was doing.

i would do some slave labor for a hefty scholarship...i know St Johns gives at least $10k scholarship to everyone, but that only leaves a mark on their $40k+ tuition.

Obviously what she was doing was shady...so sucks for her. Interesting read tho

 

[acemaster193]

I was practically offered a full ride to St. John's with aid and scholarship. I didn't believe it though, but now I know what the deal was. Ended up rejecting it. Plus, from my understanding their quality of education is not so great, I wanted to study Business.


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[gatzbygordon]

changnesia.

 

[3stheluckynumbe]

Hell I'd clean houses for a free ride in college. Don't judge me

 

[216301baller]

hmm sounds interesting ill check out the article after I workout in a few

 

[oh you mad]

Hell I'd clean houses for a free ride in college. Don't judge me

I would've too.

 

[soleasian]

I was practically offered a full ride to St. John's with aid and scholarship. I didn't believe it though, but now I know what the deal was. Ended up rejecting it. Plus, from my understanding their quality of education is not so great, I wanted to study Business.


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Yeah these guys offered me almost a full ride too when i didn't even send in my SAT scores
They kept sending emails asking for SAT scores but I didn't really want to do pharmacy so i never sent them

I have a lot of friends there doing Pharm and none of them had to do the slave labor ****.


And for any potential people thinking of going to SJU, unless you're going to do Pharm, I'd go somewhere else for cheaper and equally good education.

 

[sumrndmdude]

School is such a joke. All the higher ups are corrupt and tuition is ridiculously overpriced for the level of education you receive.

 

[sumrndmdude]

If this is going on at St. Johns, imagine what goes on at other colleges man.

College man...**** is crazy wild

 

[bhergh]

Wait guranteed admissions for that pharmacy school for doing some house slave like cleaning..

 

[suberzat1]

man you got to push pride aside for some free education

 

[216301baller]

I still havent read it yet but from the comments it sounds like yall wouldnt clean up around school for a free education smh..I was a janitor at my school I would of loved getting a free education to do work

 

[Master Zik]

Not surprised.

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Yeah these guys offered me almost a full ride too when i didn't even send in my SAT scores
They kept sending emails asking for SAT scores but I didn't really want to do pharmacy so i never sent them

I have a lot of friends there doing Pharm and none of them had to do the slave labor ****.


And for any potential people thinking of going to SJU, unless you're going to do Pharm, I'd go somewhere else for cheaper and equally good education.

Agreed, pharmacy is legit there and business is ok but other than that, it's not worth more than 10k a semester. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my four years there, but it just isn't the school it's been made out to be.

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Take Down the Johnnies.

 

[bhergh]

Isn't columbia the school that offers free education to full time employees? That older man got a doctorate through them?

 

[bearclawd]

Almost went there outta HS, glad I didn't.

 

[acemaster193]

Yeah these guys offered me almost a full ride too when i didn't even send in my SAT scores
They kept sending emails asking for SAT scores but I didn't really want to do pharmacy so i never sent them

I have a lot of friends there doing Pharm and none of them had to do the slave labor ****.


And for any potential people thinking of going to SJU, unless you're going to do Pharm, I'd go somewhere else for cheaper and equally good education.

Word. All I did was send back a post card they had sent me which required my name, Highschool average, and SAT scores and within a few weeks got an acceptance letter. I couldn't respect the school's academic rep after that. It's not like I had Ivy-type scores. Not saying I wouldn't have gone, but they supposedly trick kids into these packages and a couple years in, those scholarships are nowhere to be found and you're left with loans as your only option.


"I'm a fool, hunna thousand go to school, so much debt me and my momma nearly drowning in that pool." Word to J. cole the alumnus.

 

[Remy LeBeau]

It's a cole world