It’s Official: Madonna Constantine Has Been Fired

by | June 25, 2008 at 12:35 pm

Oh man, our sanctified academic standards haven’t been so betrayed by a member of the ivory tower since Kaavya Viswanathan did that thing that no one cares about anymore.

Madonna Constantine, a tenured professor at Columbia’s Teachers College, was just fired for plagiarism. Background (for those of you who haven’t been following our pretty extensive coverage): Constantine became infamous last fall after reportedly finding a noose on her office door, but some folks were a tad bit suspicious because her claim emerged in the midst of the university’s 18-month investigation of her work. Constantine called out the TC community for stirring up a “conspiracy and witch-hunt” and, always down for a protest, hundreds of Columbia students and faculty rallied in her support. Anthony Kelley defended her in the batshittiest Columbia Spectator column you will ever read. In a nice Orwellian twist, Constantine’s attorney said that her accusers, two former students and a former colleague, had plagiarized from her. It now appears that Constantine mooched from the trio in a dozen separate instances.

Ay dios. She dug herself far enough into the histrionic “witch-hunt” hole that no graceful bow-out was possible, and now the whole ridiculous incident is over, unless she decides to challenge the decision before a faculty committee. Fingers crossed.

That’s not to say she can’t make a comeback from the depths of intellectual disgrace. Here’s looking at you, James Frey.

Columbia U. Fires Teachers College Professor Accused of Rampant Plagiarism [Chronicle]
Constantine Will Appeal Sanction [Columbia Spectator]
Students Call For Reform at Teachers College [Columbia Spectator]
Harvard’s Viswanathan Celebrates Fake Writer Day [Gawker]
Columbia Professor in Noose Case Is Fired on Plagiarism Charges [New York Times]
Little Pieces of Los Angeles, Done His Way [New York Times]

 
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  • Y11

    You want to talk about a break in the ranks, check out the douchiest professor EVER and his little success-guilt rant in The American Scholar:

    http://www.theamericanscholar.org/su08/elite-deresiewicz.html

    Apparently we’re all money-grubbing elitist sheep who only think in numbers, all because the guy couldn’t talk to his plumber. Naturally.

  • Y11

    You want to talk about a break in the ranks, check out the douchiest professor EVER and his little success-guilt rant in The American Scholar:

    http://www.theamericanscholar.org/su08/elite-deresiewicz.html

    Apparently we’re all money-grubbing elitist sheep who only think in numbers, all because the guy couldn’t talk to his plumber. Naturally.

  • Y11

    You want to talk about a break in the ranks, check out the douchiest professor EVER and his little success-guilt rant in The American Scholar:

    http://www.theamericanscholar.org/su08/elite-deresiewicz.html

    Apparently we’re all money-grubbing elitist sheep who only think in numbers, all because the guy couldn’t talk to his plumber. Naturally.

  • Pingback: Madonna Celebrity Gossip | It’s Official: Madonna Constantine Has Been Fired

  • anonymous

    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.

  • anonymous

    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.

  • anonymous

    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.