Dr. Wendy Osefo, a star of The Real Housewives of Potomac, is no longer a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Wesleyan University. This follows her recent arrest on charges of fraud.
On October 14, a spokesperson for the 41-year-old clarified in a statement to People that Osefo’s departure from Wesleyan University was a resignation, not a termination.
“Contrary to recent media reports, Dr. Wendy Osefo was not terminated from a faculty position at Wesleyan University. She formally submitted her letter of resignation prior to any public announcement made by the university,” Osefo’s rep told People.
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“Dr. Osefo made the voluntary decision to step down from her role. This decision was made independently and communicated directly to the university before any external reports surfaced,” the statement added.
The institution confirmed the resignation to People, stating, “Wendy Osefo is no longer an employee of Wesleyan University. She resigned from her position.”
This comes after Osefo and her husband, Eddie Osefo, were arrested last week by the Westminster Police Department and booked on 16 charges of fraud.
The couple, parents to Karter, 12, Kruz, 10, and Kamrynn, 6, have since been released. The Bravo star had previously resigned from her role as an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University during season 9 of RHOP to prioritize her family.
The political commentator then announced her position as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Wesleyan University, where she introduced a Sociology of Reality TV course in November 2024.
She discussed the development of this college course with Black Enterprise at the time, saying, “I just started writing and writing and one sentence led to two and then two sentences led to four pages. And then eventually I had all of these pages where I was like, I want to do a class. And I wrote up a class and it’s titled The Sociology of Reality TV.”
She also spoke highly of her relationship with Wesleyan University as she reflected on past teaching positions where she “didn’t feel appreciated.”
“I didn’t feel like people saw the value in what I brought to the institution, but for Wesleyan, as much prestige as they have, to see me and to say, ‘Not only do we want you, but we want you to have the title of Distinguished Professor,’ I was like, this is a sign,” Osefo said in the November 2024 interview.
Osefo established herself as a credible expert on political and social matters through her frequent appearances on major networks like CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.
She has degrees from Temple University and Johns Hopkins and a Ph.D. in public affairs and community development from Rutgers University, as reported by the Daily Mail.
News of her arrest last week quickly spread, prompting Bravo to pull the premiere episode of Wife Swap: The Real Housewives Edition, which was to feature her. The cable network was set to premiere the offshoot series on October 14, with Osefo and her family being its focus. However, after fraud allegations against her and her husband, the premiere of Wife Swap: The Real Housewives Edition was postponed one week to October 21, Deadline reported.
Osefo and her husband were arrested on October 9 and charged with insurance fraud. The charges stem from a reported fake burglary at their Maryland home, as stated by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
They were released on bail Friday after being indicted on multiple charges related to the alleged fake burglary.
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