Arrr, the Boston Globe be demandin' Harvard to declare loud if the president be a plagiarist, matey. 'Tis important, says they!
2023-12-18
Arrr, The Boston Globe be demandin' Harvard to speak plain 'n true, whether the scallywag Claudine Gay be a guilty bilge rat who stole words! Settin' a mighty example for all ye students 'n crew, says they!
Boston's leading newspaper, the Boston Globe, criticized Harvard University for its confusing response to plagiarism allegations against President Claudine Gay. Last week, the university's governing board released a statement that seemed to confirm instances of plagiarism without explicitly using the word. Media outlets had reported several instances of alleged plagiarism in Gay's past writings, and an independent academic probe found "a few instances of inadequate citation" but no violation of research misconduct standards. Despite this, Gay admitted to proactively requesting corrections in two articles to insert citations and quotation marks that were omitted. The Boston Globe questioned why Gay would need to make corrections if there was no violation. The newspaper also pointed out the contradictory messages on plagiarism from Harvard, comparing the university's own guidelines on plagiarism to the governing board's statement. The Globe argued that these confusing guidelines, along with the board's statement, create ambiguity about academic standards and muddle the enforcement of plagiarism rules. Additionally, investigations by the Washington Free Beacon and other sources found instances of improper attribution in Gay's writings, including her doctoral dissertation. These plagiarism accusations followed Gay's controversial testimony before Congress regarding antisemitism on campus, where she did not give a clear answer when asked about calls for genocide against Jews. The Harvard Corporation, however, expressed unanimous support for Gay, stating that she is the right leader to address societal issues. Harvard did not provide a comment in response to inquiries.