Jason Shoumaker, a now former director of the University of Texas Law School, has been arrested for six counts of tampering with government records. His bond was set at $40,000 per charge.
Although his arrest did not come until early May, Shoumaker had been placed on administrative in mid 2017 due to internal complaints and his frequent absences.
Officials at the University and within the District Attorney’s office accused Shoumaker of falsifying timesheets claiming to be at work while he was charging his personal credit cards in exotic vacation spots such as in the U.S. Virgin Islands or Cozumel, Mexico. Based on this evidence, authorities were able to arrest Shoumaker.
This is yet another incident that has plagued the University of Texas at Austin in recent years, and more particularly the law school. Less than five years ago, former University President William Powers and Former Dean of the Law School Larry Sager were caught taking money from wealthy, politically connected donors who were attempting to get their underachieving kids into the law school. Both Powers and Sager are still currently employed by the University and receive six digit salaries.
More recently, current University President Greg Fenves was caught buying first class plane tickets with school funds, which is against school rules.
Corruption at the University of Texas at Austin is looming large, and this incident involving Shoumaker is just the most recent public example.