Victim of Noose Incident, Columbia U. Professor Is Fired Amid Plagiarism Charges

[Mugu]

by Jamal Watson, diverseeducation.com

NEW YORK

Last October, hundreds of students, faculty and community activists rallied on Columbia University’s campus to protest the hanging of a noose on the office door of a popular African-American professor. Now this same professor, Dr. Madonna G. Constantine, has been fired from her teaching post amid charges that she repeatedly plagiarized the work of two former students and a colleague.

Constantine, 45, a tenured professor who has taught psychology and education at Columbia’s Teachers College for the past decade and is an expert on race relations, had originally been sanctioned by the university back in February after an 18-month investigation into the plagiarism charges.

Though she was able to hold onto her job at the time, Constantine immediately appealed the sanctions and hired an attorney to defend herself against the allegations, claiming that she had been “specifically and systematically targeted” by university officials. She later filed a grievance against Dr. Susan Fuhrman, who is president of Teachers College.

Sources say that the decision by Constantine to challenge the plagiarism findings ultimately forced university officials to reject Constantine’s appeal and to suspend her, effective immediately. Constantine has until July 15th to challenge her termination, but the decision to fire one of only two Black women full professors at Teachers College came as a blow to her longtime supporters.



http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11338.shtml">Complete article

[dsc]

1. I admit to knowing nothing here

but they better have her dead to rights or else they will be in for some desered horrid publicity.

[Dogtown]

2. Yes. Sad if it's true

Horrific if it's a frame.

[enlightenment]

3. Given that she had tenure, the university probably has

very strong evidence supporting their charges. It isn't financially worth it to an academic institution to fire someone without sufficient proof to back up their claims. Scorned academics are incredibly litigious.

Whether or not there is a connection between the investigation and the noose incident is unclear, and I doubt we'll ever know for certain, but it certainly is coincidental that the incident occurred just 3 months before the university completed their investigation into the plagiarism charges and applied sanctions.

Plagiarism, like race-baiting, is a serious offence and not something to take lightly.