Suphajee dismisses CSI LA claims over Northrop University MBA

CSI LA post triggers degree row

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Suphajee Suthumpun on Wednesday dismissed as “nonsense” allegations raised by the CSI LA Facebook page over her MBA from Northrop University, insisting that she had genuinely studied there and earned the degree. She also said she would not sue, saying there were more important issues affecting the public.

The controversy followed a CSI LA post questioning Suphajee’s MBA from Northrop University in 1988 and why she had chosen the Los Angeles institution, which later closed in 1991. Thai media reports said the post and its follow-up comment suggested the university was what critics call a “degree mill”.

Suphajee says she studied and graduated

Asked by reporters about the criticism, Suphajee responded by questioning what was wrong with graduating from Northrop University. She said many capable people, including Thais, had studied there, and stressed that she had studied and graduated legitimately while the university was still operating.

She added that the institution’s later closure had nothing to do with her studies and pointed to her professional record, saying she had worked at several companies and built substantial achievements over the years. She said she did not view the issue as a serious one.

Later, Suphajee said she would not take legal action against CSI LA, adding that the matter was different from cases in which academic credentials were used directly to seek political office. She said she had not relied on her degree to enter politics and wanted to focus instead on more pressing public concerns.

Northrop University closed in 1991

Northrop University was a private institution in Inglewood, California, with roots dating back to the 1940s. The Los Angeles Times reported in 1989 that its accreditor had moved to strip the university of accreditation over irregularities involving credits, recruitment of foreign students and bookkeeping, though the school appealed the action. In 1991, the university said it would end its degree programmes, citing financial problems and low enrolment.

Records for Northrop University degrees issued before 1992 are still maintained through a student-records arrangement set up after the institution’s closure, according to the Northrop Rice transcript information page.