The issue of plagiarism at Harvard persists as attention turns to additional faculty members at the prestigious university following the removal of former president Claudine Gay amidst numerous plagiarism accusations and instances of antisemitism.
Recent reports reveal that Shirley Greene, an administrator at Harvard Extension School, is facing over 40 allegations of plagiarism in her 2008 dissertation, which have been formally reported to the institution.
Following the resignation of disgraced president Claudine Gay earlier this year due to plagiarism allegations, Harvard University Chief Diversity Officer Sherri Ann Charleston has also faced similar accusations.
It is claimed that Charleston took credit for her husband’s work. Additionally, prominent cancer researchers at Harvard have been accused of scientific fraud in 37 studies, involving manipulation of data images through methods like copy-and-paste and Adobe Photoshop.
In a separate case, Title IX coordinator Greene from the Office for Gender Equity, known for promoting “Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging,” is now facing new allegations.
A complaint obtained by City Journal raises concerns about Greene’s academic integrity. The complaint highlights instances where Greene seemingly copied verbatim from Janelle Lee Woo’s 2004 dissertation without proper attribution or quotation.
In Woo’s dissertation, she writes the following:
Stage 2, White Identification (WI), is a direct consequence of the increase in significant contact between the individual and white society. This stage entails the sense of being different from other people and not belonging anywhere. The individual’s self-perception changes from neutral/positive to negative, and she begins to internalize the belief systems of white society. Consequently, the individual does not question what it means to be Asian American. The individual alienates herself from other Asian Americans, while simultaneously experiencing social alienation from her white peers. Only when the individual seeks to “acquire a political understanding of [her] social status” (Kim 1981: 138) does she enter into the next stage.
Greene’s work, meanwhile, reads as follows:
White Identification (WI), is a direct consequence of the increase in significant contact between the individual and white society. Individuals in this stage have the sense of being different from other people and not belonging anywhere. Their self-perception changes from neutral/positive to negative and they begin to internalize the belief systems of white society. Consequently, the individual fails to question what it means to be Asian American and alienates themselves from other Asian Americans, while simultaneously experiencing social alienation from their white peers. In order to move to the next stage, the individual must acquire a political understanding of social status.
While the duplicated sections of Woo’s work are italicized, proper citation was not included.
Greene also reportedly lifts most of an entire table on “Racial/Ethnic Identity Development Models” without acknowledging the source.
Another comparison in the complaint is made between Greene’s dissertation and a passage from Anthony Antonio’s “Developing Leadership Skills for Diversity.”
A section of Antonio’s paper reads as follows:
Astin found that independent of students’ entering characteristics and different types of college environments, frequent interracial interaction in college was associated with increases in cultural awareness, commitment to racial understanding, commitment to cleaning up the environment, and higher levels of academic development (critical thinking skills, analytical skills, general and specific knowledge, and writing skills) and satisfaction with college.
A section of Green’s dissertation, meanwhile, reads as follows:
Astin found that independent of students’ entering characteristics and different types of college environments, frequent interracial interaction in college was associated with increases in cultural awareness, commitment to racial/ethnic understanding, commitment to cleaning up the environment, and higher levels of academic development (critical thinking skills, analytical skills, general and specific knowledge, and writing skills) and satisfaction with college.
Greene acknowledged the source but omitted quotation marks, with the entire paragraph being directly copied except for the addition of the word “ethnic.”
The complaint highlights over thirty instances where Greene is accused of borrowing language from other scholars, varying from minor infractions to what seems like outright plagiarism.
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