Friday, January 9, 2015

Walker again muddies his failure to finish college

Walker says he dropped out of Marquette University in his senior year: that's the story he tells the Journal Sentinel and it's repeated in a column posting in The Washington Post by Philip Bump.

Senior year, spring semester, his campaign has said, so the implication is that he was just a few credits short of graduation that just round the corner.

But hold on:

PolitiFact reviewed Walker's Marquette record with his campaign's help and reported that when Walker left school in the spring of 1990 - - and yes, that was his fourth year - - he was 34 credits shy of the typical degree requirement at the time of 128 credits, or 16 a semester.

That meant he was far from graduating and, in fact, was two credits short of finishing a junior year, academically.

So, yes, he left in his fourth year, but had not nailed down enough credits to have fully completed three academic years.

Senior year? Doesn't sound like it.

Maybe he'd cut back his load during his ill-fated, scandal-ridden run for student body president in 1988, or maybe the 2.59 GPA he'd earned that his campaign had disclosed as reported by PolitiFact indicated he was a mediocre student disinterested in hitting the books.

But thirty-four  credits short of graduation explains why he hasn't yet finished his studies by taking a course here or there, as plenty of people find the time to do even with a job and a family because Walker is looking at thirty-four credits, or somewhere most likely between eight and 12 classes, depending on the credit values.

I wouldn't say that lacking a college degree is a total disqualifier from presidential consideration, but failing to own up to the facts of the situation should rule him out because it's part of a pattern.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

But as he likes to point out, he has earned his masters degree in douchebaggery many times over!

Anonymous said...

Since his story doesn't pass the smell test, it wouldn't be hard for guys who play dirty to spread rumors that he's hiding a skeleton in the closet.

He might be better off saying that's one of those where academics was a distraction. I was like a college athlete who didn't finish school because I couldn't wait to get into the pro game.

But that wouldn't sound very good either, would it.