"Real Housewives of Potomac" star Dr. Wendy Osefo has resigned from her position as distinguished visiting professor at Wesleyan University following her arrest on multiple fraud charges.
A spokesperson for Osefo told People on Tuesday that her departure was voluntary and occurred before any official announcement by the school.
"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."
The spokesperson added, "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."
Wesleyan University confirmed her resignation in a separate statement, saying, "Wendy Osefo is no longer an employee of Wesleyan University. She resigned from her position."
Osefo, 41, and her husband, Eddie Osefo, were arrested last week on 16 counts of fraud, according to the Westminster Police Department.
The couple was later released. They share three children: sons Karter Osefo, 12, and Kruz Osefo, 10, and daughter Kamrynn Osefo, 6.
Before joining Wesleyan, Wendy Osefo served as an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University, stepping down during season nine of "The Real Housewives of Potomac" to focus on family.
She was later appointed as a distinguished visiting professor at Wesleyan, where she introduced a course titled "The Sociology of Reality TV" in November 2024.
That year, in an interview with Black Enterprise, Osefo described how the course originated.
"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 said.
She also spoke about her appreciation for Wesleyan.
"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," she said.
The couple previously reported a burglary at their Maryland home in April 2024, claiming that more than $200,000 in jewelry, clothing, and luxury goods were stolen while they were on vacation.
However, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office stated in an Oct. 10 press release that "detectives found that over $20,000 of items reported stolen had been returned by the owners to the locations the items were purchased."
"Further, detectives found images of a homeowner wearing jewelry that had been reported stolen after the burglary took place," the release stated.
A representative for the Osefos told People the same day that they were "back home safely with their family" and "look forward to their day in court."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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