Don’t Overplay Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the least of their crimes. Deliberately creating promoting a toxic culture that indoctrinates, poisons and ruins some of the brightest young people in the country is unforgivable.

when I went back to college at the age of 50...mumble mumble...something, for Nursing. I got straight A's, on every single quiz, test, exam, dissection, lab...EXCEPT in English, where I got high scores for content, but kept getting marked down on citations and footnotes, marked down enough to have to re-take the same course three times to get a 3.5+ which is required for the Nursing program. The Instructors/Professors are all academic "English" teachers(graders) it made ZERO difference to them that I had been earning a living writing for Magazines and Papers for over a decade, and writing/editing white papers for think Tanks, and writing political talking points and speeches for National level politicos...that EVERY bit of writing in Nursing is mere notes, full of acronyms,abbreviations, and jargon. Not a "Complete sentence" anywhere to be found, and IF anyone ever writes MORE than mere notes they get chewed out by both the doctors and the senior nursing staff. In the real world NONE of the punctuation, quotation, citation, footnoting and reference shite is common, BUT in academia, particularly senior level admin it is LAW! And no dept head, let alone University Head can claim "Not to know" the rules, they have lived and breathed them since freshman, through multiple Degree processes...and even more importantly ENFORCED them on every student in every class they have ever taught.

Don't tell us what to do or think. The distinction between plagiarism and laziness will be made by those who have investigated the matter---something you have not done.

"Put on your old grey bonnet with the blue ribbon on it, while I hitch old DOBBIN to the shay, and through fields of clover we will ride to Dover on our golden wedding day." "Intellectual indolence" does not necessarily rule out plagiarism, in fact, it could explain it, though I won't pass judgement on a case or a person, like the one whose work is under scrutiny, without studying the particulars myself. I'm content to let the courts decide, should it come to that. But regardless of the charge's merits, or lack thereof, it doesn't take a brain surgeon, or even a tree surgeon, to see that these academic institutions are unworthy of the public trust or funds to which they've come to feel entitled. It is they who should suffer consequences, and severe enough to leave an everlasting impression.

Plagiarism is difficult to define. If you write "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new soup that costs a nickel a bowl" is that plagiarism? When I was in college English Composition was the thing I feared and hated most. Any kind of minor "error" resulted in a failed assignment. So today I throw the grammar rules in the trash can.

I don't know. It's awfully hard for me to understand how someone could "inadvertently" include three substantial paragraphs from other writings, almost verbatim, as their own work. The woman is not only a racist but a mountebank.

Bottom line is that Gay is wrong-headed, racist and was chosen for the job of a large, once-distinguished university due to the DEI boxes she checked, not her academic achievements. She is a poor example to the many students who paid a lot of money to get the best and got somewhat less.