A new book is attempting to hold officials at some of the nation’s top colleges accountable as concerns over plagiarism among academics at schools like Harvard University mount.
Harvard hired an independent panel to investigate its then-president Claudine Gay, who was accused of plagiarism by a political scientist. The allegation involved Gay’s Ph.D. thesis which led to her appointment as the school’s top official.
But Carol Swain, the author of “The Gay Affair,” says her new book is not directed at Harvard specifically but uses the case of the university’s now ex-president to spotlight what may be happening at other top schools.
“When Harvard University decides to downplay plagiarism and redefine it as duplicative language without attribution, that sends a signal to universities around the world as well as elite K-12 institutions that plagiarism is OK,” Swain told NewsNation.
The subcommittee that investigated the claims at Harvard found there were a few instances of Gay using inadequate attribution, but that it did not rise to the level of violating the school’s policy on research misconduct.
Gay resigned from her presidential role in January over criticism of her testimony before a congressional committee in which she was unable to say unequivocally that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.
Swain said that her book looks to expose a double standard of students being punished for plagiarism, but not faculty members. previously told NewsNation there “was no question” Gay committed plagiarism, but that Harvard protected her.
She told NewsNation that she was prepared to file a complaint in federal court but that a colleague warned her about potential copyright laws that could prove costly to her if she was involved in a legal battle against Harvard. That led her to tell her story in a different form which led to her writing her latest book.
In doing so, Swain said she hopes to see schools like Harvard hold their faculty to a higher standard.
“It’s happening all over,” the author continued. “There’s a double standard that they are winking at high-profile people who engaged in plagiarism.”
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
