Columbia Professor, Focus of Noose Incident, Sanctioned for Plagiarism.

Columbia professor Dr. Madonna G. Constantine — who was thrust into the spotlight after a noose was left on her office door — was sanctioned by the university for allegedly stealing work from her peers as well as her students.

Teachers College of Columbia University confirmed today that it has sanctioned Professor Madonna Constantine after an internal investigation found numerous instances in which she used others’ work without attribution in papers she published in academic journals over the past five years. The investigation, which began in 2006, was prompted by complaints from students and one former faculty member who said language from materials they wrote was included without attribution in the articles.

Constantine said she was the victim of a “witch hunt.”

I am left to wonder whether a white faculty member would have been treated in such a publicly disrespectful and disparaging manner. As one of only two tenured Black women full professors at Teachers College, it pains me to conclude that I have been specifically and systematically targeted.

Professor in Noose Case is Cited for Plagiarism. [NYT]

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
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  • LH

    Plaguery can often be slippery but “… numerous instances in which she used others’ work without attribution …” can’t be coincidental, can it? Her being a black woman may or may not have anything to do with her being targeted but it certainly has nothing to do with whether or not she plaguerised.

    In saying she’s the victim of a “witch hunt,” Constantine didn’t deny the allegation. And her attorney’s story that it’s Constantine’s work that’s been plaguerised doesn’t wash.