COLUMBIA TO AX PLAGIARIST NOOSE PROF
For background on the story, see Malkins extensive coverage on the subject. In a nutshell, Madonna Constantine, a professor of psychology and education with a focus on racial issues, at Columbia University, “found” a noose on her office door. This brought media attention and national outrage, but not the kind that Ms. Constantine would have liked:
Her firing is subject to a hearing before a faculty committee, and in the meantime, she has been suspended “effective immediately,” according to the letter.
A lawyer for the tenured prof blasted the decision as “retaliatory and hostile,” and said he would fight the move in court.
He also threatened to sue for defamation.
“It’s not the end,” vowed a friend of Constantine outside her Morningside Heights apartment last night.
The bombshell dismissal caps a tumultuous series of events that began last October - near the end of an investigation of Constantine’s alleged plagiarism of former Professor Christine Yeh and two graduate students, Tracy Juliao and Karen Cort.
Just four months from the conclusion of the plagiarism probe, Constantine, who is black, said she discovered the symbol of racial hatred.
Cops began an investigation into the noose allegation - as did a grand jury. No results have yet been released.
In February, a Manhattan law firm hired to investigate the plagiarism charges determined that Constantine was guilty in two dozen incidents. She immediately appealed.
“As one of only two tenured black women full professors at Teachers College, it pains me to conclude that I have been specifically and systematically targeted,” she said at the time.
But on June 4, the Faculty Advisory Committee upheld the charges.
College officials, in their letter to the faculty, hinted at escalating ill will. The letter blasted Constantine for going public with her accusations of plagiarism “against those whose works she had plagiarized.”
Cort said she was gratified about the firing.
“I feel like justice has been served,” she told The Post.
“The entire experience was very traumatic.
“It saddens me that she’s using racism. I think racism is a real thing, but I don’t feel this investigation was against her because she’s a black woman. It was because she abused her power.”
Constantine’s lawyer, Paul Giacomo Jr., said her firing would be effective Dec. 31 unless she asks for a faculty committee hearing sooner.
Every single time a black person uses a bogus racism charge against someone, it negates the real racial bias claims out there, and they won’t be taken seriously!
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June 24, 2008 - 01:02 PM on June 24th, 2008
[...] committee, and in the meantime, she has been suspended ???effective immediately,??? according tohttp://rightvoices.com/2008/06/24/columbia-to-ax-plagiarist-noose-prof/Amazon.com: Madonna G. Constantine: BooksAddressing Racism: Facilitating Cultural Competence in [...]