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Ex-UConn official fined for improperly awarding fellowship

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut ethics panel has fined a former UConn diversity official $20,000 after determining she awarded her husband a $54,000 fellowship he did not apply for and was not eligible to receive.

The Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board on Thursday assessed the fine on Charmane Thurmand, who as UConn’s graduate diversity officer assisted the graduate school in awarding diversity fellowships.

Thurmand resigned when the allegations first surfaced and has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against UConn. That suit is pending.

Her attorney said he’s not surprised by the ethics panel’s decision, saying it consists of political appointees and is a government apparatus that has simply continued the racial discrimination initiated by UConn.

A UConn spokeswoman said last year that Thurmand’s husband was ineligible because he did not have the required degree.

The Associated Press