Update: As of 5:10 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 6, council candidate Joy Langley presented her hard copy original diploma to the Reporter. After continued discussion, the board still stands by its retraction.

The Mercer Island Reporter Editorial Board retracts our endorsement of council candidate Joy Langley since she was unable to verify as of press time that she has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

Langley maintains that she has a degree from that institution, however, Cornell officials said they have searched their records and they have no record of her degree.

While Langley produced a copy of her diploma and posted that on her website, she declined to disclose the original copy to the Reporter. Cornell has also requested that she provide information to substantiate her claims, however, she has yet to do so.

In a Nov. 6 letter, Valerie Cross Dorn, associate university counsel at Cornell, said: “We undertook a diligent investigation before Mr. Carberry made his statement, which included searches of University records and direct communications with [Langley] … She was requested to provide the name of her advisor at Cornell, the names of any courses she took, a copy of any Cornell transcript she has, a legible copy of the diploma she identifies as having been issued by Cornell, or any other evidence she may have to document her enrollment at Cornell, and she provided none of the requested information …”

Since Ms. Langley has not produced the information that both the Reporter and Cornell requested in a timely manner, the board retracts its endorsement.