A former U. Arkansas student could be facing up to a year in prison after allegedly taking online math quizzes for several fraternity members so that they could attend a party.
The misdemeanor charges came about after Michael Griffis told his waiter John Dagen at Common Grounds that he was taking quizzes for some members of Kappa Sigma Fraternity who could not complete the quiz because of a function that conflicted with the deadline, according to a search warrant affidavit. Misrepresentation of identity on the Internet is illegal in Arkansas.
“We have to make sure these frat boys get A’s,” Griffis jokingly told Dagen, according to the affidavit.
Dagen reportedly wrote down the names of the members when he saw them in the corner of the screen as Griffis took a series of quizzes. He then looked at Griffis’ credit card when he paid for his coffee to obtain his name. Dagen told police he called the UA Math Department because as a student he was very concerned and upset about cheating.
A subsequent search warrant confirmed Dagen’s story, when police took a laptop, two flash drives, a hard drive and a notebook. Bank records obtained showed several checks deposited from the father of two members of Kappa Sigma, totaling $600 and several checks from the fraternity’s chapter funds for $2,765, according to police records.
Griffis previously had a math tutoring sight mathcoverage.com/math711.com that offered free videos in subjects such as algebra and statistics. A subpoena of Griffis’ Paypal account showed he received no payments through his website for services.
The Math Department’s investigation into the students involved noted that their grades were failing, though some had nearly perfect scores on assignments.
It is unknown how many fraternity members were paying Griffis for taking quizzes for them.
While the students accused of cheating will likely face punitive action from the Office of Community Standards and Student Ethics, the rest of the UA community could feel the effects of their actions.
“[The Math Department administrators] are going to have to look at continuing to offer this convenience,” said Steve Voorhies, UA media relations manager. “Thousands of people take these courses, but a handful of people taking advantage could mean that everybody has to take their quizzes in the lab.”
Directory of Greek Life Parice Bowser echoed Voorhies’ thoughts on the exceptional nature of the incident, saying she could not recall any similar incidents involving Greek life.
“This is rare,” she said. “This is just really rare.”
Quizzes make up only about ten percent of grades in the MyMathLab courses, and tests are taken in person. Each student must present a form of identification to take the test, Voorhies said.