Dolores Cross, former president of the struggling Morris Brown University has been indicted by the federal government for defrauding the school, the U.S. Department of Education, and hundreds of students

University Business, Jan, 2005

Dolores Cross, former president of the struggling Morris Brown University (Ca.) has been indicted by the federal government for defrauding the school, the U.S. Department of Education, and hundreds of students. Cross, who became president of Morris Brown in 1998, is accused of going on a personal spending spree that squandered money on additional household staff and trips for herself, family and friends, and then hatching a $5 million fraud scheme with the financial aid director to ease some of the school's debt.

She and Parvesh Singh are accused of running a scare that had unwitting students applying for financial aid to attend the school Almost $1 million came into the financial aid office and was used for expenses. Students, though, began receiving notices that they were responsible for the loans. Morris Brown also received a $9 million line of credit from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce when Cross arrived. Within the first six months under Cross' leadership, the school had spent $4.8 million, but failed to meet the loan's requirement to make deposits to the account. Cross, who now lives in Chicago, defends her tenure with Morris Brown. Both she and Singh insist they are not guilty of fraud. Morris Brown, once a school with an enrollment of 2,500, now has 150 students. The school continues to work to regain accreditation, but still carries $27 million in debt.