CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A spokesman for Xavier University says the private Jesuit school in Cincinnati has no record of awarding a diploma to Phillip R. Cox, a prominent Ohio business leader who claims to be a graduate with a bachelor of science degree. Cox is a trustee on the University of Cincinnati board. He is also chairman of the board of Cincinnati Bell Inc., an Internet and telephone company with about 3,000 employees in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. There's more on Cincinnati Bell at Yahoo Business. He also serves on the boards of Timken, Duke Energy and Diebold, and was on the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank's board until 2006 when his term ended.
Cox was appointed to the University of Cincinnati board of trustees by former GOP Gov. Bob Taft in 1999. Cox's term expires in 2008. A brief official biography of Cox appears on the state university's Web site and notes he is a "1968 graduate of Xavier University."
However, Xavier University spokesperson Deb Del Valle told The Daily Bellwether this week that Xavier officials have been unable to find any records showing that Cox received a diploma awarding a degree. She said Xavier has fielded inquiries about Cox's history at Xavier in the past. She said he attended the school, but is not a graduate.
"We cannot say that he has a degree from Xavier. The registrar has searched and there is no record that he is a graduate. This has came up before,'' Del Valle said.
Last May, Cox was questioned in a court deposition (Warren County Common Pleas Court, Case No. 06 CV 66932) and testified he had a degree from Xavier University. Here is an excerpt:
Q, And you went to college in the Cincinnati area as well?
A. Xavier University.
Q. And what year did you graduate from Xavier University, with what degree?
A. 1969. [Editor's Note: The University of Cincinnati bio linked above said Cox graduate from XU in 1968.]
Q. With what degree?
A. Political science, BS.
Q. Was that a bachelor's degree?
A. BS.
Q. A bachelor of science. And did you go on to a graduate level program?
A. No, I did not.
During the deposition, Cox was asked if he had ever made claims about his past that were misleading. He said material was circulating that purported to show he was a fabricator.
Q. It is accusing you of making a practice of lying about your credentials. Do you see that in paragraph 2?
A. Yeah, I see it. Yeah.
Q. You deny that allegation.
A. I deny it, yes.
Q. You would say that you've never been in the Secret Service?
A. Same answer I gave you before, right.
Q. But you would disagree that you ever claimed that you did, correct?
A. Never claimed it.
A. You ever claimed to have a master's degree in psychology?
A. No. I said I had a degree in psychology -- psychology and political science.
Q. And did you ever claim to have a law degree from the University of Michigan?
A. No. I have a degree from the University of Michigan for a course taken there; plaque's on my wall.
Q. What course was that?
A. It was an industry course for financial planning.
The deposition's cover sheet shows it was taken May 31, 2007 at Five Seasons County Club.
Interesting... I wonder what is the explanation here.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think single-courses like he took at UM give "certificates" not "degrees." I believe that's how it's done now, anyway. It might have been different when Cox took it.
Hi Westender --
ReplyDeleteI suppose he meant a certificate too, or that he graduated from the course, or completed the coursework.
The Whistleblower has been all over this one. It seems he picked up Schmidt fever by lying about his resume. What possesses these people to lie about something that can so easily be checked?
ReplyDeleteHi Anon --
ReplyDeleteI heard that the Whistleblower is getting stuff from probably the same people that The Bellwether has heard from. I think they have been in contact with the MSM, too. I can't answer your question about what possesses people to do things. And I can't fathom why the MSM did not pick up on the story. I know the media had contacted Xavier University -- the spokesman said they checked the degree because on an inquiry by a TV reporter in Cincinnati. Yet there was never a story.
Deception seems to run in the Cox family. Phil's brother, Stanley Cox, pleaded guilty in 2004 to scamming 140 people, many of whom were black church members, of $8 million. Running his business from his Kenwood condo, he told his customers that he was a consultant to Proctor and Gamble and General Electric and made $108.9 million in profit from his fund in one four-month period in 2002. In a letter to customers, he wrote that global child starvation fatalities had dropped from 58,000 to 32,000 since his company began giving 20 percent of its profit to that cause, acc. to an Enquirer story. He got four years in prison.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous/ Whistle Blower, Why are you so Interested In whether or not Mr.Cox has a degree form Xavier? What are your real intentions for your blog ? How would us readers, know if your a reliable source or not, when you function under Anonymous? I'm not saying you are, but you sound like his ex-wife, who has a severe case of, " I Can't get over it ", and who spends her time trying to destroy her ex, his children & family. How do we know your not the same, "Paul S", who has sent Anoymous letters to his children, family and friends every holiday, first begining 2006 ( same year the divorce began between Mr. Cox & Jamie cox ). How do we know if your not the same Jamie Cox,who was found to be a cronic Liar In the same series of deposition's shown above, taken May 31, 2007 at Five Seasons County Club. The Whitsle blower fails to mention that , Mr.Cox's family member won a," deflamation of Character ", Lawsuit against Jamie & her daughter. Anonymous/ whitleblower/ Paul S., has caused his family unneccessary suffering during the past 3 holiday seasons, exspecially after the passing of his father, Daniel Cox, May 2007. Currently, she has taken on the job of, " The Phil Cox Offical Whistle Blower ", and is paid a salary ($17,000 a month in alamony payments)in order to do so. The family & friends of Phillip Cox, have all tried to remain silent, hoping Jamie would get, either a life or hobby, which ever would come first. As we see, this has not happen , with a fresh batch of letters having gone out to his children & family again this holiday ,coupled with this Anonymous blog. And Finally, Mrs. Anonymous, was the amount of negative information about, Mr. Cox, so scarce that you had to bring up his brother? Mr. Cox has helped & Inspired many people. Research that!
ReplyDeleteI would like to be a fly on the wall at the Cox family gatherings. A brother who went to prison for bilking millions from black churches and Mr. Cox making a hobby out of lying and deceiving everyone who came in contact with him must make for interesting conversations. It's interesting that there are those who want to shift the focus and blame on someone other than the person who committed the crime instead of trying to find out what's wrong with their loved ones that would make them lie and decieve people to the extent that they both did. Anonymous said "Mr. Cox has helped and inspried many people". The same was said about Adolf Hitler. I am Jewish and have often wondered how different things would have been in Germany had Hitler gotten the help he needed instead of people close to him overlooking, condoning, and making excuses for his behavior
ReplyDeleteWhen there are problems, why do some people insist on striking at the branches instead of striking at the root of a problem. There are two people in that family who have lived lives filled with dishonesty. Blaming others for the brothers behavior only hinders their ability to turn their lives around. Matthew 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"
ReplyDeleteGive the man a break. He probavbly never expected to get caught and is probably embarassed that he did. You can't undo what's been done. It's good that he was able to inspire and motivate others while he was being dishonest about what he'd achieved but I wonder about the family members or friends who supported and defended him on the Anonymous blog written on this site.Their focus was on him being outed for not having a college degree when he said he did and they seemed to feel that was no big deal. Haven't they seen the site:
ReplyDeletehttp://ucacademicfraud.blogspot.com/ Mr. Cox didn't just lie about having a college degree.That's kind of the norm for people, especially politicians and successful businessmen, to lie about their educational background but Mr. Cox said he had all of this additional education (Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Psychology, Masters Degree in Psychology, Law Degree from the University of Michigan, a dissertation away from his PhD.) That's pretty heavy. He also said he was a Certified Financial Planner,a Running Back for the Washington Redskins, a Secret Service Agent who guarded President Nixon, and some other stuff that I can't remember. All those things weren't heresay, there are videos and newspaper articles that confirm those things that he said he'd done when he hadn't.
The spokeman for the group of UC students and alumni uncovered all of this stuff with the help of a private investigative firm in Cincinnati. There are people in our lives who enable us and look the other way when we are going down the wrong path and my guess is that the people who are defeding his behavior and making excuses for him are the ones guilty of enabling him by ignoring all of the warning signs and looking the other way....and yes, I am a psych major.