This Just In – It’s not complicated. Let’s not claim it is.
Jennifer Moore ran for a seat on the Orange County Board of Education in 2020 and was elected to a four-year term. That’s true. She ran for the seat. She earned her place at the table to make policy for the school district and oversee its operations.
A year later, she told the then-superintendent for the district Dr. Monique Felder, that she had been awarded a Doctorate degree in Business Administration from Bellevue University, an online school in Nebraska. According to reporting in the News & Observer, confirmed by other news outlets including Chapelboro, that is not true. It is not close to true. There’s no degree and there was no enrollment.
Dr. Felder did not feel compelled to ask for any form of proof of this claim. In her shoes (which were about to march out of her job) I’m not sure I would have either. There is one thing though … Moore requested and was granted the respect of having her colleagues on the board refer to her as “Dr. Moore.”
In the educational field, there’s a logic to that (if, in fact one has earned an advanced degree) because it reinforces the social status that comes with academic achievement.
So now when re-election time has rolled around, Jennifer Moore’s campaign materials and website refer to her with this title – a title she did not earn. As a runoff became necessary to fill the final seat, there has been plenty of controversy about the race.
One former member of the Orange County School Board, for example, made some fairly damning assertions about racism and voter suppression being at play in a runoff race between Moore and fellow incumbent Bonnie Hauser.
Following up on an anonymous tip, the News & Observer did some fact-checking and discovered that Moore had not attended Bellevue University. Moore had an opportunity to explain, of course, but refused comment. The initial statement that she released this week following her resignation from the board makes no reference to her fraudulent claim.
If Jennifer Moore is receiving any public relations advice, it isn’t good advice. What she needs to say is simple:
I made a terrible mistake. I’m sorry.
Any student in the Orange County Schools can tell you that this is what the honor code requires in the area of academic cheating. Take responsibility. Name the offense. Make amends.
Moore has recently amended her public statement to say that she “accepts responsibility for not acknowledging“ she does not have a Ph.D.. Most of us know a heartfelt apology when we see one. As yet, we’re not seeing one.
This brings me to the rest of the Board of Education. In accepting Moore’s resignation on Monday evening, the board was understandably somber. This is an embarrassment to the district. I have no problem with board member Carrie Doyle taking a moment to say that she enjoyed working with Moore for the last four years. These have been tough years for elected boards. That’s perfectly fair.
I do, however, object strongly to her language. “I have really enjoyed working with my colleague Dr. Moore these last four years,” said Doyle. She went on to describe her as a “lady of great character.”
People who worked their fannies off for years to earn a doctorate degree might dispute that.
When you are serving on an elected board of education, you must be accountable to your fellow board members, the parents in your district and most especially, to the students you serve. Those students cannot ditch school for the rest of the year and claim they graduated with honors. The teachers who work for the district cannot come back after the summer break and falsely claim that they earned doctorates and should now receive a pay bump. They’d be fired for that.
So I offer Ms. Doyle the same advice for her new term as a board member. Before starting, Take responsibility. Name the offense. Make amends.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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