Dear Editor,
Plagiarism is the use of another’s work, words, or ideas without attribution. The word “plagiarism” comes from the Latin word for “kidnapper” and is essentially a form of theft and fraud committed simultaneously. It is a breach of honesty in the academic community, punishable by the university.
On Dec. 5, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing titled “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism.”
Witnesses included the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Dr. Claudine Gay of Harvard University.
Upon questioning, each of the three presidents failed to clearly state that the calls by both students and faculty members for the genocide of Jews constitutes harassment and violates their universities’ codes of conduct, with Gay repeatedly stating it “depends on the context.”
On Monday of the following week, The Washington Free Beacon reported that Gay was facing allegations of plagiarism within four academic papers, including her 1997 PhD dissertation at Harvard. A review of her scholarship by distinguished political scientists revealed “instances of inadequate citation,” which were deemed not in violation of Harvard’s standards of misconduct.
Nevertheless, this prompted Gay to insert citations and quotation marks that were omitted from the original publications.
Although the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, had expressed confidence in Gay’s leadership following her controversial remarks at the Congressional hearing, there exists a growing debate among Harvard board members as to whether the data cited in her research violates current policies around plagiarism and academic integrity.
If the purpose of education is to promote personal achievement by providing knowledge and skill through development of one’s own abilities, plagiarism deprives one from mastering skills fundamental to scholarship.
Carol Swain, a former political science professor at Vanderbilt University, is one of those whose work Gay is accused of plagiarizing. Swain argues that Gay is getting a pass because she is the product of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Certainly, for some, the accusation of plagiarism has cast doubt on Gay’s fitness for the job.
Is Harvard moving the goalposts? Is that esteemed university redefining plagiarism to protect its first Black president? Perhaps, in borrowing from Gay’s own words regarding context dependency, the decision relies on the situation for interpretation.
Peter Wibell Rutledge