July 23, 2007
Dear Student:
Last week the Manhattan District Attorney announced the indictment of ten individuals, including three former administrators of Touro College, for their alleged involvement in a scheme to create and sell fraudulent student transcripts at the College. It is important that you know that it was in fact our staff that initially detected the scheme and turned the matter over to the law enforcement authorities. The College continued to work with those authorities as they conducted their investigation, which ultimately resulted in the recent indictments. Touro has been publicly commended by District Attorney Morgenthau for its cooperation and assistance in this case.
While we do not believe this activity was widespread or involved large numbers of students, we are of course deeply concerned about the actions of those very few unscrupulous individuals. We take great pride in our students’ efforts and achievements. We are doing everything in our power to address the issues that may arise as a result of this matter. We are committed to all of our hard-working students and are absolutely determined to ensure that this situation in no way diminishes the value of your Touro education.
Unfortunately, because every college and university now relies upon electronic records, there is always the risk of this kind of breach. We take very seriously our obligation to safeguard the accuracy of our student records and the integrity of our academic processes, and we are taking further measures to protect against anything like this happening again.
Finally, I am sorry that we could not inform you of this situation prior to its becoming public. Because this was an active investigation, we were specifically directed by the District Attorney’s office not to disseminate any information to anyone not directly involved in the investigation, including our own board of trustees, students, faculty and staff, until after the indictments were announced.
The Office of the Registrar has established a hotline to respond to any inquiries that you or an employer, potential employer, or any graduate or professional programs may have regarding your student records. Please call 212-292-5540 or e-mail to registrarinfo@touro.edu if you have any questions. For more general information, please see our statement on the Touro College website, where updates will be posted periodically: http://www.touro.edu/general/statements/records-jul1707.asp.
Again, let me emphasize how important it is to all of us at Touro, and to me personally, that our graduates, and the degrees and other credentials they have earned, be treated with the respect they deserve, and that their employers recognize this. Please be assured that we are doing everything in our power to secure that outcome.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Bernard Lander
President