Johnny Lechner

Johnny Lechner is a perpetual student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. His claim to fame (or infamy) is that he has been attending college since 1994. After 13 years of college, and a year studying abroad in Europe, Lechner planned to graduate on Saturday, May 19, 2007 with a triple major/quadruple minor. [ [http://www.gazetteextra.com/slacker051607.asp Longtime UW-W student plans one more year | The Janesville Gazette | Janesville, Wisconsin, USA ] ] According to Lechner, however, he will be staying for yet another year and will not graduate until 2008. [ [http://www.johnnylechner.com/johnnycollegeblog.htm Johnny Lechner college student since 1994 BLOG ] ]

Lechner was also set to graduate in 2006, but withdrew his application to graduate five days before the scheduled May 13 2006 ceremony. He stated that he wanted to spend a year studying abroad. [ [http://www.madison.com/wsj/mad/top/index.php?ntid=83304&ntpid=1 Wisconsin State Journal ] ] At the moment, he has the credits to graduate with degrees in Communications, Liberal Studies, Health, Education, Women's Studies, and Theater.

Lechner has been dubbed the "real-life Van Wilder". The state passed legislation instituting a so-called "Lechner Law/slacker tax" on long-term students, so Lechner pays double the standard in-state tuition. In 2007 a Wisconsin state senator described Lechner as "exactly what is wrong with the educational system," which sparked controversy within the state senate quarters. [ [http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/wsj/2005/04/07/0504070021.php madison.com ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.JohnnyLechner.com www.JohnnyLechner.com (His Official Website)]
* [http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051110110409990002 New York Times Article @ AOL News]
* [http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/10/perpetual.student.ap/index.html CNN Article]
* [http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/5/prweb381064.htm PRWeb Article]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1892440/ IMDB] entry