Myron Guthrie found out the day before his first semester of graduate school that he was not enrolled at UK. The university told him after he had already moved his business from Tennessee to his new home in Lexington. 

Guthrie, 45, is seeking a lawyer, but he has filed complaints about UK’s behavior with the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. The council has already begun an investigation according to Guthrie. 

Guthrie was sent an acceptance letter in April for the communication graduate program at UK. He moved his business from Tennessee to Lexington and began making connections in the area. 

Over the summer, he talked with professors about their courses and even considered teaching an undergraduate course as an instructor. 

On Aug. 23, Guthrie met with an adviser in the College of Education because he was considering a teaching license in Kentucky. Guthrie said the adviser could see his transcript and other files in the system. The adviser told him to register his classes with the College of Communication and they would talk again. 

Guthrie went to the Graduate School to speak with his adviser, Vivian Bowling, so he could register for classes. She took him back to her office and told him there was a mistake with his enrollment. 

In the complaint he filed with the Attorney General and the Council on Postsecondary Education, Guthrie described the meeting as “nothing but an unpleasant nightmare.” 

Bowling told him that his undergraduate college, Sanford-Brown College, was not regionally accredited. Guthrie said she told him this is the first time she has seen a situation like his at UK.

UK spokesman Jay Blanton said via email that Family Education Rights and Privacy Act prevents UK from talking about specific student records, but “general graduate admission procedures involve transcript evaluation for authenticity, grade point average, awarded degree, and accreditation affiliation of the school’s awarded degree.”

Blanton said applicants to UK’s Graduate School need a bachelor’s degree from a fully accredited institution of higher learning, which UK defines as ”one in good standing and a member of one of the six regional academic accrediting associations. Applicants not meeting these qualifying requirements are not permitted to register for classes.”

Guthrie could still be found in the university directory on Sept. 11. He was issued a school ID and a student ID number. 

Guthrie received a $65 refund check for his application fees from the university. He said he has not cashed it yet, because UK does not normally refund applicants’ fees. 

Since arriving in Lexington, Guthrie has received two job offers, applied for a business license and began hosting a radio show on WRFL. 

“I don’t care if this has to go to court,” Guthrie said. “I’m going to speak as loudly as possible about this.”