Michael D. Brown
stated that his resignation would, "get the media focused on the good things that are going on, instead of me." Hopefully, the media will continue to scrutinize unanswered questions regarding how Brown was appointed to a powerful position that he appears to have been unqualified to hold. One such question is nature of the original connection between Brown and his former boss Joe Allbaugh.
The Boston Herald is one of several publications to report that the consecutive FEMA directors were college roommates:
Soon after, Brown was invited to join the administration by his old Oklahoma college roommate Joseph Allbaugh, the previous head of FEMA until he quit in 2003 to work for the president's re-election campaign.
Columnists Paul Krugman and Molly Ivins also state that Brown was "Allbaugh's college roommate". However, the biographies of the two men do not appear to support the premise that they could have been sharing a living space while both were attending college.
Joe Allbaugh has a single college degree. Carroll's Federal Directory 2004 indicates that he received his BA from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater,Oklahoma. Allbaugh's Beta Theta Pi
fraternity profile states that he graduated in 1974. The Stillwater based campus offers a
tribute to its famous alumni's leadership qualities.
During the 1973-74 academic year when Allbaugh was completing his senior year in Stillwater, Brown was only beginning his freshman year at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma. Google maps calculates that Stillwater and Durant are separated by a distance of 169 miles. If the two men did share a residence, it appears that such a living arrangement is likely to have existed only after Allbaugh completed his college studies.
Earlier articles offer varying versions of the original relationship of the two men:
Several pieces including a August 16, 2004, Wall Street Journal article refer to Brown as Allbaugh's "old college friend" without mentioning that the two men were roommates.
An August 21, 2001, Washington Post article refers to Brown as a "long time friend and confidant" omitting any reference to a college connection.
A December 26, 2004, Washington Post article states that Allbaugh and Brown knew each other from boyhood:
Brown came to Washington at the behest of his childhood friend and Bush 2000 campaign manager, Joe M. Allbaugh...
Why is the press citing a college friendship/roommate relationship that does not appear to be supported by the educational resumes of these two individuals? Are one or both of the official educational resumes inaccurate? Is the college relationship a misstatement from one or both of these men? How did Allbaugh and Brown become acquainted?
Updated from original version at scoop.epluribusmedia.org.