Putney calls for return of diploma

By News in Brief
Published: November 10, 2008

A powerful Virginia lawmaker says the police chief in Charlotte, N.C., should return a bachelor’s degree he did not earn, or complete the work needed for the Virginia Commonwealth University diploma.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported last week that Del. Lacey E. Putney, I-Bedford, sent VCU Rector Thomas Rosenthal a strongly worded letter saying there is no excuse for allowing former Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe to keep the degree.

Monroe is required to hold a bachelor’s degree for his job in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County.

Putney is chairman of the Virginia House Appropriations Committee, which last week urged university leaders to see if the school can revoke the degree it wrongly granted. VCU awarded Monroe the degree in 2007 though he only earned six of 30 required credit hours there.