"Noose" Professor Charged With Plagiarism
Columbia University Says Black Teacher Who Found Noose On Office Door Took Work Of Others
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Professor Madonna G. Constantine speaks at a protest rally at Teachers College at Columbia University, one day after a hangman's noose was discovered on her office door at the college, in this Oct. 10, 2007, file photo in New York. (AP Photo/Diane Bondafeff)
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The university's Teachers College announced Wednesday it had imposed "serious sanctions" against Constantine following a lengthy investigation it said uncovered "numerous instances in which she used others' work without attribution in papers she published in academic journals over the past five years."
Constantine's lawyer, Paul J. Giacomo Jr., said his client could prove her innocence and called the school's investigation "extremely underhanded from the beginning." He said he would appeal the sanctions, which neither side would disclose.
The inquiry into Constantine, an education and psychology professor who has written extensively about race, was launched in 2006, long before the noose was discovered this past October, the school said.
"The investigators found a real pattern - two dozen instances of similar language from three people who came forward separately," Teachers College spokeswoman Marcia Horowitz said. "Dr. Constantine's explanation was not credible."
In a written statement, Constantine said she had been subjected to "a conspiracy and witch-hunt by certain current and former members of the Teachers College community."
Her lawyer said she had "clearly" been targeted because of her race, and he said he believed the noose incident and the plagiarism investigation might be linked.
"There's been an effort to intimidate my client, that's clear," Giacomo said.
Horowitz dismissed Giacomo's claims, saying "it is both absurd and untrue that racism had anything to do with this report."
"Teacher's College has zero tolerance for racism, discrimination or prejudice of any kind," she said.
Columbia said some of the plagiarized work was written by Christine Yeh, a former colleague of Constantine's who is now with the University of San Francisco.
“I’m really hopeful other people will come forward now,” Yeh told The New York Times. “When the initial charges were made, there were many students involved who didn’t feel they could follow up. They were too scared, and they were afraid of retribution.”
When Constantine's colleagues discovered the noose, a symbol of lynchings in the Deep South, hanging from her office door, the incident roiled the Ivy League campus and gained national attention.
Police at the time ruled out any possibility that Constantine had hung the rope herself. A few weeks later, a swastika was discovered on the door of a Jewish professor at Teachers College.
Investigators have yet to make an arrest in either incident.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 90 CommentsPosted by djrdub at 08:04 PM : Feb 21, 2008
+ report abuse
************typical self proclaimed psuedo enligthened moron..cant really smell his own SHI*T on how own knees....
talks about generalization by generalizing everybody...
so this one is no different ..
Tenured professors are the worst .. going on paid sabtical then writing the book, then forcing the institution to make thier book mandatory reading for class .. so they not only reap the salary, they reap the book royalties ... get their ego stroked by writing a book ... and then force students to have labs taught by student teachers .. paid for by the college ...
and we wonder why college tutition has tripled in the past few years?
Dont take no brain surgeon to figure that one out !!
So this gal may be looking for another position ...
Start with the question-- What does the saying "He was born on third base but thinks he hit a triple" mean? Write your answers down so you don''t forget them.
Posted by george2221
If you have a tired, dog eared, worn out race card like she carries, your covered. It''s like a get out of jail free card in monopoly.
posted by djrdub
I am shocked!, shocked!, when I read you wanted others banned.
Hummmmm, lets look that up---Banned---to prohibit, "segregate", keep separate, not allowed, quarantined.
Very shocking behaver from such a civil, self righteous person like yourself. Shame on you. After the genetic lesson I was just about to call you BRO too!
The truth finally comes out...see what I mean civil people. Ignorance at it finest. We are all built from the same genetic code, be it black, latino, asian, anglo. Its a scientific fact.
For some reason, racists do not want to except this truth.
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Posted by djrdub
Yeah, we are all built on the same genetic level. However, I''m confused as to why genetics doesnt determine whether myself, or a black individual pulls out the race card"?
Posted by bedwetter777
Wrong-- Just can''t seem to come up with the right power ball yet.
Yep I knew it...a bunch of nazi racists on this forum. Poopus buttus, thg driver, total uneducated, inbred, idiots. These cowards should be banned from the internet spreading and spewing the racist hate.
The truth finally comes out...see what I mean civil people. Ignorance at it finest. We are all built from the same genetic code, be it black, latino, asian, anglo. Its a scientific fact.
For some reason, racists do not want to except this truth.
That''s really strange, because whoever did it would probably be inclined to brag about it to some others.
We all know 3 people can keep a secret if two are dead.
Could be she hung the noose and planted the swastika to through off suspicion. If she did it, is she too smart to brag about it? But then we thought O J was too smart to do what he did in Vegas.
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Posted by thgdriver
HAHAHAHAHA. Good one.....
Thats unfortunate, where can I send a get well card?
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See all 90 Comments