by Jerome R. Corsi
Two separate database reports from the National Student Clearinghouse have contradicted President Obama’s claim he attended Columbia University for two years. The reports have added to the intrigue generated by Obama’s unwillingness to discuss his time at the Ivy League institution, his refusal to release educational records, and the fact that many political science students and faculty there in the early 1980s say they don’t remember him.
Swirling amid the black hole of information are a host of theories about Obama’s whereabouts – particularly during the 1981-1982 school year – including speculation he was working for the CIA in Pakistan.
Now, the clearinghouse, with permission from Columbia, has decided to make an exception to its media policy and address WND’s inquiry into the discrepancy. Why do clearinghouse records indicate Obama was at the school only during the 1982-83 school year while Obama and Columbia’s spokesman have insisted he began attending the New York City school in the fall of 1981?
Janine Greenwood, vice president and general counsel for the clearinghouse, told WND there was a “computer error” in their system that has been corrected. She said she confirmed with Columbia that Obama was at the university for two academic years, not one.
Greenwood said she “tried to untangle this” discrepancy one year ago after two “DegreeVerify certificates” from the Herndon, Va.-based clearinghouse –obtained through a fee-based request – indicated Obama attended Columbia College at Columbia University only in the 1982-1983 academic year, from Sept. 1, 1982 until May 31, 1983, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree May 17, 1983.
“All I know is [the record] was right originally, and somewhere along the line it went off the rails, and then it was right again,” she said.
“We basically had two records running simultaneously, and it just depended on how you input the name and the other information as to which records you got,” she explained to WND in an interview Friday.
Greenwood confirmed a disclaimer on the clearinghouse website stating the organization relies on the accuracy of the information supplied by each educational institution and cannot edit, modify or delete any student degree or enrollment data.
Founded in 1993, the clearinghouse describes itself as “the nation’s trusted source for education verification and student educational outcomes research.” Participating colleges and universities provide the clearinghouse with enrollment and degree information on their students and authorize it to respond on their behalf for degree confirmation in conformity with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
The two separate reports indicating Obama attended Columbia for only one year were generated in March 2011. One, obtained by lawyer Orly Taitz, was used in a court filing contesting Obama’s eligibility. The other found its way to Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Cold Case Posse investigating Obama’s eligibility for the presidential ballot in Arizona.
Greenwood said at least one of the two people who submitted the request for a report of Obama’s record received a correct report as well as an incorrect one. She added that the people who obtained the records probably violated the clearinghouse’s terms of use, because acquisition of records is limited to degree confirmation for the purposes of employment and education.
She said she contacted the Columbia registrar’s office last year to clear up the discrepancy.
“We have confirmed with Columbia that the two years was the correct record,” she said.
However, Columbia’s top media spokesman – who says the issue of Obama’s attendance at the university is his “beat,” as all questions on the matter are routed to him – told WND a day before the interview with Greenwood that he couldn’t explain why the database reports indicated Obama attended Columbia only one year. Robert Hornsby said he was unaware of any contact between Columbia and the National Student Clearinghouse regarding the discrepancy.
After the interview Friday with Greenwood, WND asked Hornsby in a follow-up email to confirm that he had no knowledge of the fact that the clearinghouse says it resolved the issue one year ago.
Hornsby confirmed he was unaware of the contact but insisted “that does not alter the facts, which are clear.”
In the Thursday interview, Hornsby said regarding the clearinghouse’s information: “I don’t know what they’re basing their information on or what their system is for logging, but I can confirm, as a matter of fact, that President Obama was here in September 1981 as a transfer student from Occidental.”
Asked whether he had personally seen a transcript that would verify Obama attended classes during the 1981-82 school year, Hornsby said, “You’re looking for proof I cannot provide.”
He noted academic records are protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, “and we don’t talk about any student’s academic records, presidents or otherwise.”
Hornsby said his information is based on confirmation from “people that have the authority” in the registrar’s office.
“I can’t help you by giving you some more solid thing about having seen a transcript or anything like that,” he told WND. “Our records show he was here, and that’s what we’re standing by. I don’t really have anything else to say.”
Obama’s autobiography “Dreams from My Father,” the Columbia University website and two best-selling biographies by authors favorably disposed to the president all assert Obama attended Columbia for two years, from 1981 to 1983.
Unlike previous presidents, however, Obama has refused to release any transcripts or other documentation regarding his education, going back to Kindergarten.
Link:
http://www.wnd.com/2012/07/record-shows-obama-at-columbia-only-1-year/
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