Lt. Gov. Barnes Faces Questions About College Degree

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is facing questions about his claims to have graduated from Alabama A&M University.

Barnes told the Isthmus newspaper of Madison for a story published Thursday that he hasn’t graduated because he didn’t finish a course. He called it “a small technical thing.”

But Barnes told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel twice last fall that he had “finished” college in 2008. And the Wisconsin State Journal said that his response to a candidate questionnaire said he had received a “BA in Broadcast Journalism” from A&M.

A&M spokesman Jerome Saintjones confirmed in an email to The Associated Press that Barnes was a student at the school from the fall of 2003 through the spring of 2008 but didn’t graduate. He said Barnes is still working with the university to resolve the incomplete coursework.

Barnes’ spokesman, Earl Arms, didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.