The Batshittiest Columbia Spectator Column You Will Ever Read
Remember Columbia / Teachers Colllege Professor Madonna Constantine, she of the noose-hanging fame and plagiarism charges? Well, did she really do it? As for the noose, we're not so sure. But what about the plagiarism? Yes, yes, yes she did! According to an outside report, Constantine stole work from no less than three different people in the past five years and did so in "numerous instances."
Not so fast, says a truly insane column in today's Spectator. According to a certain Anthony Kelley we can never really be sure:
No one aside from Teachers College Professor Madonna Constantine will ever know whether or not she actually committed plagiarism.The ultimate truth of a situation cannot be attained through investigations, especially when they are clouded with accusations of bias and prejudice."
But can we ever even know that your name is Anthony Kelley, Anthony Kelley? What is truth, after all?
Kelley is "drawn to" the view that "these allegations of plagiarism... are continuations of the historical devaluation of black womanhood and should be recognized as such."
Still, we've got to give Kelley some credit here. He is so academically open-minded that he's willing to play devil's advocate:
Let us assume for a moment that Professor Constantine plagiarized the work of others. Instead of punishing (or "sanctioning") her, we should be making special efforts to extend compassion to her and those who feel wounded as a result of her actions. We should be having community dialogues to emphasize the importance of academic honesty."
In this perfect world Kelley imagines, you can steal your friends' academic work so long as you're willing to sit around a campfire and "talk" about it at some later point.
After the jump: more insanity.
We do not know whether or not Professor Constantine committed plagiarism. Neither do we know her motivations if she did indeed plagiarize. Nonetheless, we should have fewer conversations about punishment and more conversations about redemption and healing. Only after constructive dialogue can we even begin to discuss "punishment" or "sanctions."
Imagine a forum in which Professor Constantine and her accusers engage in the life-sustaining practice of dialogue, actively listening to each other's concerns and extending heart-felt compassion in understanding each other's pain. Imagine the reconciliation that could arise from such a space. Imagine the impact such a forum would have on our community. Instead of just giving lip-service to the idea of dialogue, we would be demonstrating its importance and effectiveness, even when it is difficult and uncomfortable. Imagine an end to the lies. Imagine embracing truth. Imagine healing."
Remember that time I stole my friend's thesis? I talked to him - and the Honor Committee, who were all set on expelling me - about "healing" for a little bit, and they cried with me and we laughed together a bit and then it was all forgotten! That's like, what academia is all about!
In the meantime, left-leaning though I am, I'm going to sign up for the Dartmouth Review. These Columbia leftists are really getting on my nerves.
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March 4th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Hippie liberal freak. Discuss this over a bong with some endangered animals.
March 4th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
“…continuations of the historical devaluation of black womanhood and should be recognized as such.”
What horseshit. I don’t remember the exact words, but I believe in the last post either Ivygate or a particularly astute reader mockingly wrote, “Alas, I’m being held accountable for my plagiarism because I’m a black woman.” I laughed and nodded then… now it’s even more spot-on. That said, I won’t stereotype Columbia as a whole… there are these kind of entitled delusional activist sorts all over the Ivy Leauge. It’s a disgusting disease.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
do you know how some guys joke that they are majoring in women and gender studies? well, anthony IS majoring in women and gender studies…
March 4th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
while his sentiments about compassion and healing as opposed to judgment and punishment are nice, that certainly isn’t how the world (or even columbia) operates.
also, his extreme relativism (what is truth, who can know stuff) is disheartening, and i would have hoped a bit more would have been learned through studies at columbia.
still, the batshittiest spectator column this is not. you obviously haven’t read too many.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I would like to state that this author is not representative of the Columbia student body. Also, a male Womens/Gender studies major? Yeahhh..
March 4th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Lol, that is truly the stupidest column I have ever read. So full of touchy-feely BS it’s not even worth arguing with.
March 4th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
My favorite part is the sentence that begins, “Personally, as an advocate of black radical feminism…”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Thanks for making my day. Hey Anthony Kelley, welcome to a world of Google-ability.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Is it satire? It can’t possibly be serious.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
actually, it is the best d— article that i have read yet. I took professor constantine and the woman is hands downs one of the smartest people in the world (all jokes aside). she can literally write a book in her sleep she’s that da– smart. i as a white male find it hard to believe that a woman of her intellect would steal work. perhaps this is some social experiment by the psychology department. i even commented to my mom that i really enjoy listening to her speak unlike the other profs that bore the f*** out of me. I am behind her and i understand that black woman never really get a fair shot in academia. the whole double jeopardy thing, i have both seen and witnessed it secretly spoken. thumbs up Dr. C. I am behind ya.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
The guy’s fuckin’ out of his mind.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Chad,
1. Double jeopardy makes no sense in the context you use it, unless she has successfully defended herself against the same plagarism accusations before. The fact you parrot words you heard on TV to make points discredits you and your esteemed teacher–who has apparently either encouraged or failed to disabuse you of your idiocy.
2. Doris Kearns Goodwin (Harvard) also was caught stealing someone’s work. Assuming “Dr. C” is as smart as you say, there is ample evidence of smart, talented people stealing work.
3. “Some social experiment by the psychology department”. The voices in your head are not real, do not listen to them for any reason.
4. The other professors bore you because they talk too fast for you to take notes in crayons.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I spilled my drink in class when reading this article.
I think someone should just punch Anthony in the face, and when he reacts adversely, tell him the 2 of you should sit and discuss why you did it.
There are lots of reasons people breaks rules and laws, and I for one don’t give a crap about most them. If you broke a rule that you were clearly aware of and did so of your own free will, you should be punished. It’s a different story if you broke it to claim that the rule is unjust, but that’s just that, a totally different story.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
It’s much more likely that this is all one big racist, sexist conspiracy to shut down a oppressed black woman who was stressed out by the pressure to publish than a clear cut case of plagiarism with verifiable textual evidence.
Good job Anthony… and I though we’d need Scooby Doo to solve this mystery.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
It’s punny!
March 5th, 2008 at 2:04 am
STUPID libs! Get a backbone and fire this broad. At Dartmouth or Princeton, she would’ve been gone long before attracting this much self-inflicted bad press. She’s obviously guilty, and an embarrassment to Blacks.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:38 am
She is NOT an embarrassment to Blacks, just as your immature arguments do not reflect poorly on whatever race you belong to. Just because she’s a minority doesn’t mean she’s representing her entire race.
March 5th, 2008 at 10:58 am
There are lots of black female professors who don’t plagiarize. Pressure or no pressure, plagiarism is simply unacceptable, and any professor should know that. It’s also very easy to catch plagiarism. Does her recent publication contain many of the same phrases as previously published papers of others? Plagiarized.
March 5th, 2008 at 11:32 am
@Commi Killer: doesn’t Princeton have a much more “lib” faculty than even Columbia?
March 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
@columbia 08: actually, no. it doesn’t.
March 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
why why why why why
March 5th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The fact that she is black and has plagiarized does not make her “an embarrassment to blacks,” but her abuse of the race card when it is so blatantly not applicable makes future allegations of discrimination that much easier to dismiss out of hand, even those that have actual merit.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Chad C. is an obvious troll, dudez… but ole Madonna C. is technically an embarrassment to her race because she was hired and given a fast-track-to-tenure as part of an EEOC program (i.e. affirmative action) to give African-American students a mentor and someone to look up to at the expense of an equally qualified non-minority. (EEOC mandates that a minority be hired if minorities are underrepresented on a faculty unless there are no qualified candidates. ‘Qualified’ status is determined by a school’s office of multicultural affairs)
Madonna C. was politely asked to resign and refused. She has disgraced the University affiliate bearing our name, disgraced her profession, and disgraced her name. What you take this disgrace to mean is up to you.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
This guy is NOT representative of Columbia! Oh man, it hurts to think any more about it…
March 5th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Some of you guys really need to get a day job. If Dr. C was a White male most of us would not give a f***. The fact that you are chasing her around commenting on every lil piece of sh** you can find tells me you are racist as h***. I am with Chad C. I do not think she is guilty (yep i am white too). I think that fact that she’s a Black woman pisses a lot of you spoiled trenches off because you already feel like Black profs are at universities because of EEOC programs. P*** off. If I ever hear a White person say I represent the entire race i’d be mad as h***. Who ever said racism is this country is NOT alive and well is a d*** fool.
March 5th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
For your own sake, I hope that was sarcastic.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
oh, grow up Katie. The reason so many people are commenting is because she’s obviously one player short of a team. The only correct response for anyone in this situation would be to forfeit their title, but to cry foul, even after injecting their academic contributions with the steroids of dishonesy, makes her fair game in my book. The case is clearly a slam dunk; a “hole in one” if you will. I don’t know what her goal was, but I hope it was worth ten minutes in the penalty box. Let’s play ball!
March 5th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Katie, dear:
Whether you think she was a good prof or not, she has been proven a plagiarist by an outside arbitrator. This is breaking a cardinal rule of scholarship. And, whether she deserved her position or not, she was employed through a social program and hasn’t been shy about calling attention to her race, so I think it’s fair to call her a [self and university-appointed] representative of her race, at least in the eyes of the press and the University community. I doubt she’d disagree. Her behavior has been disgraceful, therefore she’s a disgrace to her race.
I don’t consider her race disgraceful because of what she’s done. But she has disgraced her highly-influential position as a mentor and role model to African American students… I realize the standards are low at Teacher’s College, but you guys really can’t be serious about defending this woman?
March 5th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
@c’51:
Mentor? Who in the h*** said she HAS to be a mentor to all of the Black students? White profs can be mentors too. H*** ALL professors should be MENTORS regardless of RACE. That’s part of the d*** problem. Arguing with you people is simply pointless. Yes, I am defending Dr. C., because I know she is innocent. This whole academic system and this country is twisted when it comes to race and gender. I have heard the comments about Blacks from my family and friends. I do not buy into all of this racist YES racist bull****. NO, I am not being sarcastic, just realistic.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
The argument put forth by advocates of social promotion, i.e. the people who Madonna C. so brazenly ripped off, is that students do better with educators from a similar social class/gender/race, especially at the graduate level with networking, recommendations etc. I think it’s a fair assumption. Whatever- Suffice to say that there is an expectation on the part of the people who hired her that she help minority students.
As to her innocence, if you mean the noose, I think she probably did it, but she certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty; but if you can’t accept that she’s a plagiarist, I don’t know what else to tell you. You’re certainly out of the bounds of ‘realistic’ as far as this argument goes.
BTW: You can say hell on this blog if you want. Even shit.
March 5th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
You know she’s innocent? Okay… so who DID write the plagiarized text?
Completely irrespective of her race, gender, or anything else, it’s pretty clear that this wasn’t original work. If you know something that can clear her name, you probably should be a bit more specific than “I know she is innocent.” Otherwise, it just comes across as wishful thinking and/or willful ignorance.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Chad and Katie are the same poster. So obvious. So clear. Just look at the way they “asteriks out” their profanities and the tone and use of language structure. SAME POSTER. And who might that poster be? It’s, quite obviously, “Prof.” Constantine herself, posing as a “white student” to garner sympathy and additional attention. This woman has a mental disorder. Clearly dysfunctional. Amazing stuff to watch happen, huh?
March 6th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I wish i were a dude and a White dude at that. Perhaps my life would be a lot easier. Screw off, i am Katie not Chad. Chad must be a smart dude though. Well at least he is open minded. PROFESSOR CONSTANTINE IS NOT GUILTY. Why would she need sympathy. She will never get it from some of you White boys even if she is proven innocent and I DO believe she is innocent. I am not really White just Irish(:
March 6th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I was desperately hoping that this was a parody. People like this little clown make you root for the bully jocks. I can’t believe that this is what the Ivy League is producing. What a pathetic little weenie. Oh, and Katie, calm down little white girl, you sound like a stark raving bitch.
March 6th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
but ‘oh please’ might be on to something. What white girl refers to herself a White girl? Answer: a black girl who is prone to thinking white is a proper noun.
March 6th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I agree that ‘Oh please’ is probably right. ‘Katie’ blew it with ‘I wish I were a dude’ and ‘not really White just Irish,’ among other things. However, I think our poster is more likely to be our columnist friend Anthony than Ms. Madonna Constantine herself
March 6th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
C’51 is right about everything so far, including point that Katie and Chad are the same person, most likely Anthony “special ed” Kelley. (who posts on ivygate using a first name pseudonym?) I am beyond positive that this woman put that noose on her door just because of her attention seeking behavior and propensity to find incidents of racism (where none exist) in order to advance (or save) her career.
March 8th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Anthony, that truly was a terrible article. Please do us a favor by a) not being batshit, b) not weakening your argument by first debating about ontological and epistemological truths– ‘What really happened? Can I really KNOW what happened? Who am I?”.
This was just as bad as your “I was too dumb to get into Columbia, but here I am. Oh shit, I got a D at Howard,” entry.
March 8th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
They’re different people. Katie’s dumb ass capitalizes “Black” and “White”, while Chad’s dumb ass does not.
May 28th, 2008 at 1:16 am
It would be a whole lot easier (and eliminate all this speculation he said she said stuff) if someone would post the articles or passage in question.
October 17th, 2009 at 1:48 am
TO Ms. Constantine:
One of the most important life lessons we all have to learn as we move through life is: Move on.
When you began work at Teachers College there were many problems at Teachers College and in your department that festered long before your first day. Some were financial. Others included ideological and personality clashes among faculty and a pointless collage of courses that do not prepare students for actual work in their field. The most misleading and deceptive was the “appearance” of an enlightened, mature and evolved staff and curriculum that supposedly reflected this. The problems were several. These problems needed to be resolved from the top down. But, when school leadership and administration do not know how to resolve problems, and do not listen to what needs to be changed to the benefit of all tied to a program or school, things get uglier and can take a turn for the worst.
Perhaps the most important thing you have to share with others is that no matter how many hurdles you jump and how hard you work in any work setting, someone will always conspire against you. This may be due to jealousy, inept, incompetent leadership, a grudge at having you around, or about the game of being in an environment where the rules are constantly changing to the benefit of those who hold the power and the cards. I am sure that in your work toward your credentials that you were told indirectly if not directly that plagiarism is not allowed and could cost one one’s credibility, reputation and career. One’s hard work and sacrifice to get to a certain point could become lost and destroyed. The funny thing is that TC’s supposedly open outward message of diversity does not reflect TC’s actual nature. The old guard has the power and is intent on keeping the power it holds.
Teachers College has a casual concern for development of students into skilled, knowledgeable professionals. Its objective is to stay afloat financially, which is every schools’ objective. Your old department, the Counseling department’s main purpose and point is to be an additional source of revenue for the school. Period. Point blank. Pity for past, present and future students who do not see this at the door. It showed a “tolerance” for “diversity initiatives” provided that some money could be made from them. Again, the point was money. Revenue. You might have come to know this as the years passed and your own eyes opened.
Despite the distress and sheer aggravation in your experience at TC, there is a bright side: you no longer have to deal with the fraud, sabotage, and hypocrisy that is Teachers College. Your eyes are now open. Good for you.