Harvard

Plagiarism accusations against Harvard’s president

This entry was posted in Commentary Writing and tagged education Harvard plagiarism on by

Taking a principled approach means that sometimes you support a person in one respect while being severely critical in another. I supported Harvard president Claudine Gay when she said that calls for genocide don’t categorically qualify as harassment. But now there’s evidence that she’s a repeat plagiarist, and that demands strong criticism if she is.

Update: Claudine Gay has resigned as president of Harvard University. See also the new paragraph at the end of this post.

Plagiarism consists of using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as original work. If you cite the source, it isn’t plagiarism (though it might be a copyright violation if you use too much). Sometimes it’s tricky to identify. Two people can have the same idea independently. Words can stick in your mind, leading you to use them without being aware that you’re lifting them from another author. Sometimes there’s just one good way to say something.
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Harvard groups’ endorsement of murder

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As a former employee of the Harvard University Libraries, I have to say something about the groups there who excused the mass murder of innocent Jewish civilians. The Reuters article says:

A coalition of 34 Harvard students organizations said they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” following decades of occupation, adding that “the apartheid regime is the only one to blame.”

Saying that the Israeli government is 100% to blame implies that the people who committed the slaughter are blameless. That’s an endorsement of murder.

I’m disgusted though not surprised. We’re talking about a university that booted a dean for being a defense attorney in a criminal case. Harvard should not suppress the groups making these statements — it’s already bad enough that FIRE has given it an “abysmal” rating for free speech — but it should distance itself from them in the most emphatic terms. It has failed to do this.

Harvard Library appoints content arbiter? 2

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The Harvard Library has appointed an Associate University Librarian for Antiracism. The press release announcing the position says that “we are a center for knowledge supporting our faculty and students in pursuing antiracism through their research, teaching, and learning. It also extends to our partnerships and collaborative networks, where we aim to support equitable access to a diversity of content, easy engagement with trustworthy information, and thoughtful preservation for the future.”
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