Berwyn Police Officer Thomas Skryd insisted he was well-qualified for promotion to sergeant: Just look at his test scores and master's degree in criminal justice, with an emphasis in "crimes of the powerful."
But when the city refused to consider the diploma, awarded by a university that approves advanced degrees overnight, Skryd fired back with a lawsuit.
The case, eventually dismissed, is another example tying the suburb's police department with recently uncovered diploma scandals.
Last month the Tribune reported that the names of five other current or former Berwyn police officers turned up on a federal list of 9,600 suspected buyers of degrees from phony schools as part of a Washington state criminal diploma scheme. Skryd is not on the list.
Through city records, it showed that a now-retired Berwyn Fire Department employee claimed a master of science degree in fire-safety management awarded from a university that state and federal officials don't recognize.
Police Chief William Kushner said his department has launched an investigation into whether the police officers and the Fire Department official used bogus academic credentials illegally to gain undeserved promotions and pay raises. Kushner said he also talked to the public integrity section of the Cook County state's attorney's office about possible charges.
And because the City of Berwyn offers a tuition-reimbursement program, Kushner said part of the investigation will look into whether anyone had wrongfully gotten tuition reimbursement for fake degrees, which can go from $500 a year for an associate's degree to $1,500 a year for a postgraduate diploma.
"It's a black eye on a fine department," Kushner said.
Because Kushner refused to honor Skryd's diploma, Skryd is not part of the investigation, Kushner said.
Documents obtained by the Tribune show that one retired police officer was approved for a $1,900 tuition reimbursement for a doctorate in criminal justice from Glencullen University, an institution whose accreditation isn't recognized by the federal government. Kushner said he has yet to determine whether any payments actually went through.
With the exception of Skryd, the Tribune is not naming the officials who allegedly bought the degrees because they have not been charged with a crime. Skryd's name became public when he filed the lawsuit.
Kushner said he has gone through the academic credentials of all current officers to make sure they are legitimate, and he has found no further problems.
Skryd, who never got his promotion, said he was not aware that the Belford University degree he obtained was questionable. He said that his lawsuit, filed in 2006, covered other issues apart from his degree, and that he was embarrassed to learn the nature of Belford University.
"It was one of those situations where I should've known," he said. "It was too good to be true."
Skryd's wife is Ald. Michele Skryd, who he said was unaware of his degree. "Once I realized what had happened, I was probably too embarrassed even to tell her," he said.
Kushner, who assumed his job early in 2006, talked with Skryd before he filed his suit, noting the problems with the university.
Kushner said he asked Skryd if he knew the degree had no value. "[Skryd] said, 'Well, I guess I do now,' " according to Kushner.
Still, he included the degree in his suit—an act he now blames on "cognitive dissonance."
Berwyn officials emphasize that the alleged abuses took place under a previous police chief and mayor, and that Kushner and the human resources department now must approve degrees that are submitted.
The investigation was recently aired at a City Council meeting after aldermen demanded more information.
Some of them had heard rumors that there was no investigation, "which was furthest from the truth," Mayor Michael O'Connor said. "We would never stand in the way."
The names of the current and former Berwyn officers under fire came to light after federal agents investigated the Washington diploma scheme. That probe eventually led to guilty pleas this year from diploma mill officials.
Some of the diplomas allegedly obtained by the Berwyn officers came from schools such as St. Regis University, part of the Washington scheme that federal officials shut down, and LaSalle University in Mandeville, La., which collapsed after its president was imprisoned for fraud in connection with the selling of degrees in the late 1990s.
Others, such as Glencullen University, have accreditation that isn't recognized by either the state or federal government, or both.
Records obtained by the Tribune show that the retired Berwyn Fire Department employee was awarded a degree in 2005 by Madison University, a Mississippi institution whose accreditation state and federal officials don't recognize. Fire Chief Denis J. O'Halloran said he turned the case over to Kushner.
As for Skryd's school, Belford University, it grants degrees within a few hours based on undocumented "life experience" submitted by applicants. George Gollin, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a diploma-mill buster, tested the system and was quickly approved for a doctorate in public policy. "I gave them as my life experience that I read the newspaper and I watch the evening television news," Gollin said. "And they wrote back to say, 'Sure thing,' and I think they wanted about 500 bucks for the degree."
To apply to Belford, Skryd said he filled out a multiple-choice questionnaire and submitted his résumé online, listing his years of work on the beat, in-service training and other experience. Within a few days, he was approved for the degree, Skryd said.
But he said the degree didn't help his career; he is still waiting for promotion to sergeant.
"I never did benefit from it," Skryd said, "and I certainly would never do something like that again."
