Kenosha County Eye Editor, Kevin Mathewson, won a recent lawsuit against UW-Parkside, its Chancellor, Debbie Ford, and its Executive Director of University Relations, Tannette Elie Friday afternoon. The lawsuit was filed because the University, under Ford’s direction, withheld documents from Kenosha County Eye that it didn’t legally have the authority to do. Parkside refused to provide KCE with the job application and salary of a violent felon Ford hired named Sharmain Harris. The Wisconsin Department of Justice, who was representing UW-Parkside in the suit, agreed to immediately release the records, pay Mathewson’s legal fees, and pay Mathewson statutory damages. In turn Mathewson agreed to formally dismiss the lawsuit.
“While I take no joy in cashing a check from the taxpayers due to politicians like Ford breaking the law, suing is sometimes my only avenue to get access to pubic records,” said Mathewson of the settlement. “I’m happy that the Assistant Attorney General who defended Parkside was reasonable and didn’t waste more money fighting a losing scenario that the University put her in the middle of.” Mathewson has won lawsuits or formal appeals to public records denials now nine times and one more is close to being decided. He successfully sued DA Michael Graveley (D) twice.
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What We Learned
Sharmain Harris is a local career-criminal, with many violent felony charges and other violent convictions. He made friends somehow with Kenosha’s District Attorney Michael Graveley (D) while he was in prison. Because of this, Graveley is lobbying Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to pardon Harris and his father who recently was charged with repeated sexual assault of a child. Harris had his hearing recently and says he is expecting the governor to pardon him. Harris posted on Facebook that DA Graveley, who is also a professor at Parkside, got him a job as a professor of criminal justice at UW Parkside. “I walked in thinking I was about to interview… But in reality… it was orientation,” said Harris about his new job. But Harris didn’t meet any of the requirements of the position. For example, the job required “Minimum of a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice or related field.” According to his resume, his degree is in “Business Design/Innovation.” This is certainly not a related field. The job also requires “Knowledge of best practices in Criminal Justice and expertise in the content area of one or more available courses.” Unless they count Harris’ years behind bars, he doesn’t meet this qualification.
(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Perhaps the most shocking thing we learned about Harris and Parkside – he wasn’t even required to fill out a job application. This means that UW-Parkside has a violent multiple felon as a professor of “Introduction to Criminal Justice” that didn’t submit a job application or conduct a job interview. The recommendation of Mike Graveley was good enough for the ultra-liberal Chancellor, Debbie Ford. Harris experienced his “Introduction to Criminal Justice” as a juvenile when he was arrested, charged, and convicted of burglary. Harris makes $3,009 per semester. The Wisconsin Board of Regents was aware of our lawsuit and didn’t offer any comment. So the question that most law abiding citizens might be asking: From the Kenosha County DA, to the Governor-appointed Board of Regents, to the Governor himself – why is the democratic machine trying to make a hero out of a dangerous and violent man?
37 Responses
Debra Ford is not an ultra liberal. She has been held hostage by the radical left wing psychopaths that have turned UW Parkside in a far leftwing shit hole. Because of her age and salary has no choice other than to stick it out until she retires. The republicans definitely need to get their heads out of their asses and understand what the radical left has done to poison our state/ society over the past 50 years. Defund their far left agenda that rewards poverty, punishes success, is anti God, anti family and anti white Christian male. These nutballs have gutted our inner cities, destroyed our public school systems and left millions of good people full of anxiety and despair. Get them off the public university nipple and into the real world. God forbid the day when the black community finally figures out that they have been used and abused by the far left, then maybe we will restore some sanity to America.Good work Kevin for holding them accountable. Keep praying that we will crush these shitheads in November God willing once and for all.
If blacks haven’t figured out by now they’re being used, there’s no hope for them. The smart ones have figured it out and vote accordingly.
Debra Ford is not being held hostage—-she presides over, and is responsible for the clown show at Parkside that squanders the taxpayers hard earned.
The one thing that keeps running thru my mind when I read all of these articles, is that as a parent I’m horrified. What if this was my child entering college, and taking a class from this career criminal. I remember as an 18 year old entering college, I automatically respected all my professors. Looking back, yes, I was very naive. Most 18 year olds, still today are not very savvy to the ways of the world. I think about my friends children who are freshman now at parkside, and friends who have children going to college next year. With the amount of sex trafficking in this corridor, how many of our children have been at risk because of the hiring practices at the university level? Was the class he was “teaching” for credit? How much money did the university take in from students taking his “class” probably much more then he was paid. Sickening
Corruption by any other name is still a democrat in public office . This story like others shows even at a local level socalist corruption in government is alive and well in Kenosha! This is what the Democratic Party has become
These are facts !! These examples are not made up !
Think twice before you vote !
Remember only you can prevent socalism
As Charles Barkley, a retired, NBA black man has said.
The de.ocrats have been using blacks for over 50 years and have done nothing for them.
At least one black guy gets it.
Amazing only in this country would some bullshit happen.. Goddam liberal
Great story, Kevin, thank you. The wildly corrupt “Kenosha News” should be inundated with letters and phone calls asking why they don’t cover this scandal. Definition of “voter suppression”: filtering news in order to influence elections (examples of spiked stories: Hunter Biden laptop scandal, Joe “Sniffy” Biden forcing his pre-adolescent daughter to shower naked with him, payoffs to “the big guy” from his family, etc.)
Kenosha News
6535 Green Bay Rd.
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Editorial phone: 262-656-6279
Gov using colored folks as puppets to promote radical left wing filth. Ford has been fix or repair daily since she took the uwp realm
The real joke is how many small-community public high schools shuffle-off their students to these places after “graduation” for a good brainwashing after the high school couldn’t be bothered to do the job they were given taxpayer funds to do in the first place.
For the love of God can someone please teach Debrah Ford to smile without looking like her feet are in terrible pain. I used to feel sorry for the woman because when she first arrived it seemed as if she was going to clean house. She quickly buckled in my opinion to save her pension and salary. If the general public truly understood the left wing radicals that control UWP they would show up at the campus with pitchforks and run these God dammed communist marxists out of town. Great professors do not apply there. UWP gets the bottom of the academia barrel. Everyone has to be in lockstep with the marxist/socialist agenda or they will not renew their contracts. The actual number of black students that graduate from UWP with any type of proficiency and little debt is horrific. This is because the RUSD and KUSD prison incubators send them children unable to read, write, research, study and perform basic math and science subjects with very little proficiency. Close down UWP which is only 1/3 full anyway and turn into something that the public will actually benefit from. Perhaps all the homeless population throughout Wisconsin can be housed, clothed, fed and educated at UWP by all the university employees that currently work there.
UW-Parkside has a significant local history. People in Kenosha and Racine Counties fought in the 1960s to get it here. People gave land for it.
That said there was a time when Parkside strayed far from its mission, beginning with admittedly liberal Chancellor Alan Guskin, and community relations eroded until the regents stepped in and hired Chancellor Jack Keating, the son of a Seattle police officer.
Parkside has tried a bit but is an under utilized though still important local resource that contributes a lot to the local economy.
Screw the history lesson, Parkside has become a social sewer and needs to be fixed or razed. The community that pays for Parkside shouldn’t constantly be under attack by the kind of people who run Parkside from the governor’s office right down to Ford’s and obviously some of the instructors who work there, and I used the term very loosely. The community is tired of getting played by the university system including Carthage elevating some of kenosha’s biggest racist losers to positions of authority over others.
Factual examples, please.
Let’s play Devil’s Advocate for a moment. I *can* see a place for Harris to teach in the criminal justice field. His experience behind bars may indeed be relevant. I used to work with DOC inside a prison. You’d be shocked how many lawyers who take good money to represent people have subzero knowledge on how corrections works, what a sentence really means, institutional and program transfer policies, extended supervision, etc. Someone with Harris’ background could be an important resource BUT not as an introductory criminal justice instructor. Maybe a corrections class.
Mike Gravely is listed as an Assoc. Lecturer in the same department. But I find something odd: HR at universities typically control the hiring process tightly. An academic department usually cannot just hire anyone it wants, especially not without a formal interview process. Somehow, HR turned a blind eye to the hiring, and that could point to a deeper conspiracy. If I’m Kevin, I’m turning my guns on the HR director, that is, if the conditions of the agreement allow it.
All of you people are sad I have yet to see any current information about Mr Harris criminal activity just the editor trying to link him with his father, I see this as nothing more than a personal vendetta the editor has with Mr Harris a person who through this story seems to be trying to take his life in the right direction, all I see is someone who is trying to earn a living and someone else who obviously has too much time on his hand trying to prevent the other person from doing so.. all of the people of this post reek of far right racist conservatism. Get a life!!
Kinda like the hypocrisy of the left right? Did you say the same when democrats do the same to political leaders? Or do you say their past is ok to attack, just not those that are on your side?
“The job also requires “Knowledge of best practices in Criminal Justice and expertise in the content area of one or more available courses.” Unless they count Harris’ years behind bars, he doesn’t meet this qualification.”
This is hilarious. Good job, Kevin.
So now your the employment police?? Like I said it seems that the editor is attacking a man who’s trying and doing the work to change his life. It isn’t like he’s trying to sell drugs or promote violent behavior he’s actually trying to become a help to law enforcement and maybe his criminal history can help him in doing so.. what’s the harm in that?? Like I said it seem as there is a personal vendetta being carried out here and the editor is a plain old hater.. the editor needs to open up a Bible and try to find some forgiveness in his heart!! Judge not least thy own self be judged. Learn how to sit down at a table and work out your differences like members of the human race and stop playing to all these miserable bigoted people who frequent this sight.. whether you know it or now your a better man than this and your talents can be far better utilized.
Please STFU.
Lol employment police? No. Just something called standards and ethics. Jobs have certifications, skill sets, and applications, interviews to be legally competitive. Explain how that worked here
Employment police ?? We already have that asswipe, useless agency that acts like the gestapo called the EEOC within the federal government. They fine corporations millions of dollars needlessly. This is exactly how we get the most ignorant, radical, unqualified, uneducated people in positions of authority in places like UW Parkside and across the country. It has nothing to do with talent, ability, or intelligence and is only concerned with racial, gender and sexual orientation quotas….and the rest of the elite liberal asswipes wonder why there is so much anger out there. We need another massive, prolonged stock market crash and depression for people to really understand what is going on. Perhaps then we will gain some sanity and clarity once again. The chickens will come home to roost soon.
Dial it down, folks. The real issues are whether Harris is qualified for the job and if proper hiring procedures were followed.
Adjunct faculty hiring is usually more flexible. And they often teach only one course. Still, what are Harris’ qualifications? As an earlier post said, he might be just the guy to teach corrections. Not so clear about the rest.
Typical bleeding heart libs at it again, white guilt is a mental disorder. Everything is beautiful until it bites them in their own asses.
The American Association of State Colleges and Universities has awarded the University of Wisconsin-Parkside the 2022 AASCU Excellence & Innovation Award for Student Success and College Completion, a testament to years of strategic efforts.
“Your improving student-success program was selected for its outstanding results and potential to influence and serve as a model for other institutions,” said Dr. Mildred García, AASCU president and CEO.
Holy shit here we go !! UW Parkside finally had their feet held to the fire by the common ,everyday, hardworking little people and what do they do in my opinion ? Call out the big guns right from the very top in California and every other liberal fortress throughout the country to intimidate and try to scare the living shit out of anyone who dares to question them.
Shame on them and shame on the system.
Looks like the academic leadership believes that the %38 of students that actually graduate from UWP in 6 years do in fact deserve awards for participation and trying their best because building up students self esteem should be our top priority correct ? Hopefully these kids all landed great jobs/careers with good salaries and benefits. The other %62 of the kids that do not graduate hopefully have little debt, but maybe Biden and Kamala can help them out.
For the love of God can someone who can find their ass with two hands please explain to me on what basis UWP deserves an “Excellence & Innovation Award for Student Success and College Completion, a testament to years of strategic efforts.”
February 7th 2022 Kenosha News Article:
SOMERS — The University of Wisconsin-Parkside had the lowest graduation rate of all the schools in the University of Wisconsin System over the past six years, even as the state’s graduation rate surpassed the national average.
That’s according to according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which found more than 70% of Wisconsin college students who enrolled at a higher education institution in 2015 graduated within six years.
The report tracked and compared six-year graduation rates at four-year public universities, two-year public colleges and four-year nonprofit universities. It shows about 62% of all college students in the U.S. who enrolled as freshman in 2015 graduated within six years.
Graduation rates for 2014’s freshman class vary significantly by UW System campus, but the average for all students at all campuses is about 65%.According to the report, UW-Madison — the UW System’s flagship school — had the highest six-year graduation rate among UW campuses at about 88%. Parkside had the lowest rate, with 38.6% of 2014 freshman graduating within six years.
Stop the insanity please.
It’s getting better (hence the award) but there is definitely something missing. I think one of the major problems goes back to the 60s. There was fierce competition between Kenosha and Racine for the campus and it was put in between as a compromise and given the generic “Parkside” name. Not near much and not much identity. If I was on the Board of Regents I would spend more time developing community partnerships and a sense of purpose. I don’t think Debbie Ford does enough of that. I’d also rename it University of Wisconsin-Southeast.
More than half the people who something to say on this post probably aren’t qualified for the positions they hold , and more than likely got their position because they are white but now have a problem when the shoes on other foot lol
I worked at (and got fired from) Parkside. I can confirm that if you’re not a boot-licking liberal that goes in lockstep with their agenda they fire you in a heartbeat. There are employees on campus who disagree with the way the campus is headed but are afraid to speak up due to fear of losing their jobs. At minimum, Chancellor Ford needs to be replaced because the place is a mismanaged dump.
The incestuous depravity of left wing death cult zealots knows no bounds and will gladly eat it’s own to achieve power and control.