Accused Spy's SHU Connection - Updated

Mikhail Semenko, the accused spy and former Seton Hall University graduate student, was scheduled to appear at a bail hearing today in Virginia. A magistrate judge in Alexandria, Va., postponed a hearing for Semenko and two others accused of being foreign agents, Michael Zottoli and Patricia Mills. It has been rescheduled for Friday.

Semenko studied at SHU from 2005 until he graduated in 2008. Now 28, when he arrived, Semenko was a recent graduate of Russia's Amun State University.

Sources suggest that Semenko lived in a Portuguese-speaking neighborhood in Newark. On his blog, Chinese Economy Today, Semenko describes his Portuguese skills as "intermediate."

Semenko earned an M.A. in Asian Studies and an M.A. in Diplomacy and International Relations from SHU. The dual-degree program, a collaboration of the Department of Asian Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences in Fahy Hall and the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations in McQuaid Hall, is a 60-credit endeavor. Thirty credits compose the "Asian Studies Component," according to the SHU website; courses include Mandarin and Japanese conversation and composition, as well as history and culture classes. The "Diplomacy and International Relations Component," numbers 12 credits, with the final nine credits reserved for a "Research Practicum." The Practicum includes a three-credit internship. Semenko interned at the World Affairs Council in Washington, DC.  

Current tuition is $946 per credit plus related fees for technology.

While he was in the area, Semenko did more than study. His active Facebook page shows him beaming at the camera from Times Square, wearing a Devils jersey, and playing guitar. (The number of Facebook friends has decreased in the past two days from 421 to 388 at this writing, suggesting that he has been "defriended.")

Semenko's online profiles suggest that he fully embraced the American lifestyle, titling Facebook albums "Thanksgiving" and displaying photos of himself in front of tourist destinations. When the 23-year-old arrived at Seton Hall, however, it may have been comforting to know that two blocks from the university, Irvington Ave.'s Fine Fare has an aisle full of Russian goods. From caviar to chocolate, the foods of home are close to South Orange.