A student, who claims mistaken identity to explain a criminal history, seeks $12,000 for a trip his club doesn’t know about.
By Jennifer Luna
jluna217@student.alamo.edu
The Student Activity Fee Committee planned to remove a former member on Jan. 31 who had lied about his military background and failed to mention nine arrests for theft and assault.
Addiction counseling sophomore Jeff Schnoor was appointed by Jacob Wong, president of the Student Government Association, as one of five student members on the committee.
Schnoor did not attend the meeting in January, though he replied to an email from the dean of student affairs’ office saying he would attend.
The letter of removal was emailed to Schnoor on Jan. 31.
Schnoor has not been seen by the committee since then.
Jan. 19, on Orgsync, Jeff Schnoor of the college’s Human Services Club requested $12,393 for 10 students and two advisers to attend the 4th National Counseling Advances Conference March 13-15 in Las Vegas.
Wong said for more people, SGA has spent less money for a longer period of time for its conferences.
He also mentioned it was unethical for a committee member serving on the committee to request money.
It is not a law written in the committee’s procedures, he said, but a moral objective.
The committee, which oversees about $400,000 annually in student fees, denied the request because the Human Services Club president and the club adviser had no knowledge of the request.
Dr. Edwin Bergen, program coordinator, did not want to comment.
Schnoor has denied being the Jeffery A. Schnoor who served a year in state jail for theft and was sentenced to restitution to 32 businesses for 43 hot checks in San Angelo and Abilene totaling $2,158.77.
In an Oct. 12 committee meeting, Schnoor said he served in the Army for 16 years, and between deployments, he enrolled in college.
According to the National Personnel Records Center, a Jeffery Alan Schnoor only served in the Army National Guard Aug. 17, 1992–Aug. 22, 2000, and active duty from Sep. 16, 1992–Dec.17, 1992. He was discharged as a Private First Class.
The records also show place of entry and separation as San Angelo.
Dr. Robert Vela, vice president of academic and student success, said in an interview Nov. 15, college students may have made mistakes in the past, but it should not prevent them from being active in school activities or taking part in committees.
Vela said the money for the committee is overseen by a strong group of people, and no one person has the authority to withdraw money without the consent of the committee.
However, if there was any concern about safety, students are able to file a complaint in Vela’s office.
Wong said because he appointed Schnoor, he has the authority to remove him from the committee because he intentionally provided false information.
During an interview Wednesday, Vela said Wong acted responsibly removing Schnoor from the committee.
Schnoor maintains he is not the person listed in Texas Department of Public Safety documents with 16 variations of the name and two birthdates.
The Jeffery A. Schnoor in DPS documents had nine arrests, seven for theft, one for assault, and another for enticing a child.
These arrests date back from 1991 to March 16, 2012.
The man served more than a year in state prison.
Wong said Schnoor appeared to be taking the committee’s work seriously, being “balanced and fair,” while allocating money to organizations.