More on Clarke

You may have heard the brouhaha over whether or not Yvette Clarke lied about finishing college:

Her 2004 campaign Web site declared she graduated Oberlin, as did her entry in the 2005 city Campaign Finance Board voter guide.

The board stipulates that candidates must sign "sworn statements that the information in their profiles is true to the best of their knowledge."
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Last night, Clarke said, "I spent much of the day today in contact with Oberlin College and Medgar Evers College to retrieve my academic records from two decades ago, convinced of my recollection that I had fulfilled the requirements for a bachelor's degree.

"Contrary to that recollection, I have now discovered that I remain two classes short of the requirements for my degree."

That was published August 24. Later that day, Ben Smith blogged:

A source with access to Yvette Clarke's transcript at Medgar Evers College passed on the information from that record, which strengthens the case that she fudged her resume, rather than simply forgetting that she hadn't finished up.

Clarke's transcript, according to this source, shows that she took three public administration classes in 1986. That would have been enough to finish her Oberlin degree. But while she got As in two classes, she failed a third.

Clarke was clearly aware that she hadn't finished her degree: In 1991, she re-enrolled at Medgar Evers, this time in a management class. According to the transcript, however, she withdrew from the class.

And that's where the matter has stayed for the last few days. Before this she was an acceptable second choice after Chris Owens to many in on New York blogs, but it seems that's no longer the case. (Occasionally I see support for Yassky. Never for Andrews.) Strangely, though, I haven't seen this additional tidbit from the Voice picked up, so I thought I'd put it here, since the occasional New York blogger does slum with us from time to time:

Claiming to have graduated from Oberlin College when she was still several credits shy of a degree isn't the only reason for Brooklyn congressional wannabe Yvette Clarke to be embarrassed.

Ten years after the councilwoman left the prestigious Ohio liberal arts school behind, state officials had to file a court lien against Clarke to get her to ante up more than $17,000 in student loans she had failed to pay, records show.
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In July, 1996, the New York State Office of Higher Education, now known as the Higher Education Services Corp., went to court against Clarke to force her to start paying off the loans. "There was a judgment brought," confirmed Ronald Kermani, a spokesman for the state agency. "It was filed in the courts, and she has been paying directly through the courts since then." Clarke still owes $4,268, officials said.

As one of the commenters there points out:

If Clarke had to be taken to court over her college loans, she clearly "remembered" her college history.