Columbia University Valedictorian Plagiarizes Comedian
Columbia, you have a problem. First, President Lee Bollinger. Then former provost Jonathan Cole. Then several business school professors. Now this.
A fish rots from the head, as they say. I disliked The Sociopath Next Door (repetitive, preachy) but it may be relevant here.
Thanks to Bryan Castañeda.
May 26th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
I fail to see what harm was done. He retold a story that was appropriate for the occasion. The value of ideas is that they can be recycled. Seems like it would have encumbered the speech to include a citation in the midst of it.
May 26th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
“I fail to see what harm is done.” The harm to Columbia University’s reputation is considerable — this guy was supposedly the best in his class. One comment was “Stupidest valedictorian EVER.” Damage to Columbia is why a Columbia administrator got involved and publicized the speaker’s apology. Moreover, people like to get credit for their ideas. This paper was based on my work. Notice the great similarities and how poorly it credits my work. The lack of attribution bothered me then and bothers me now. See also this perfectly appropriate rant by Patton Oswalt (whose joke the valedictorian stole) complaining that Nick Madson, another comedian, stole his work (via Andrew Gelman). At the time my work was used with poor attribution I consoled myself that intellectual theft was the sincerest form of flattery; now I can console myself that it also happened to Oswalt, whom I admire.
May 26th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
It “encumbers” the speech to say, “The comedian Patton Oswalt said…”?
May 26th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Seth, not everyone endorsed Bollinger’s performance in front of Ahmadinejad – I pointed out at the time that his performance was cowardly, narcissistic and hypocritical – which makes him the perfect leader for the Columbia you describe:
http://politicalmavens.com/index.php/2007/09/25/bollinger-the-coward/
May 26th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Sam, thanks for pointing that out. I am glad that someone agrees with me.
May 27th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
There’s a difference between a scholarly article and a feel-good speech. And, yes, the anecdote is much more enjoyable to the audience when told as a first-person account rather than through citing a source as one might do in the case of a scholarly article.
May 28th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Vic, I think the audience’s enjoyment might have been tempered when they later heard that they’d been lied to — and their expensive education devalued — by the fraudulent Brian Corman.
May 29th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
The very last bit of the Columbia education of the Class of 2010 includes some high-profile plagiarism in which they were taken in . . . . it will be interesting to see how their later charitable contributions to Columbia compare to earlier and later classes.
June 9th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
This post neglects to mention that the plagiarized joke was delivered by the Valedictorian of the School of General Studies, not Columbia College, which is the undergraduate program most people assume is being referred to when Columbia University is mentioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University_School_of_General_Studies