Story Archive

My Biploma

Alec Williams, looking at his recently earned diploma from Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, noticed something odd in the corner: it was signed by Doug Quimby, Chair of the “Coard of Trustees” — not the Board. CMU president Tim Foster took full responsibility, agreeing “This mistake is all ours” since they design the diplomas in-house. He pledged to replace all the diplomas issued since the former Mesa State College became a university in 2011 — 9,188 sheepskins, at about $5 each. The typo was hard to catch thanks to the Old English font face used, but the Cs in Chair and Coard are clearly identical. Williams, who is now working as a journalist in Utah, said he had a “moment of laughing at it,” but “the more I thought about it the more frustrated I got, because I’m sitting on $30,000 worth of debt and they can’t take the time to use spellcheck.” (RC/Grand Junction Daily Sentinel) ...Next Foster will address multiple students’ unexpected “C” grade average....