In reaction to last week’s article “The Revelation of St. John ’09”, writer Barbara Kingsolver agreed to answer several questions from Samantha Herndon ’10.
Q: What would you consider to be an appropriate sentence or outcome for someone who has committed plagiarism?
A: We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here – plagiarism is a crime. Copyright laws are federally mandated. Depending on the circumstances, prosecution can lead to fines and even imprisonment. I own my copyrighted intellectual property in exactly the same sense that you own, for example, your car. I can admire your car. You might take me for a ride in it. But I don’t get to say, “Ooh, shiny, mine!” and grab the keys. You worked to pay for that car; I work to craft my words, which I possess and sell. They’re my livelihood.
Q: Do you feel that Connecticut College handled the plagiarism case well?
A: Time will tell. I’m proud of a student newspaper for blowing the cover on this story, but disappointed it wasn’t already common knowledge. This could have been a perfect teaching opportunity for your student body: an object lesson in copyright law, temptation and ethics, the desire to be “amazing” weighed against the validity of honest work. Mistakes that get hidden will be repeated.
When your President informed me of the plagiarized commencement speech, I told him I was sad that a student chosen to represent the college’s best and brightest had instead behaved as its dimmest. I offered my confidence that most Connecticut College students had been educated more successfully. I wouldn’t call that “absolution.” I was assured the violation was considered egregious and would be punished. I took this to mean the college magazine would run a conspicuous apology for printing plagiarized material, and that the plagiarist might not receive a diploma. In an academic setting, plagiarism generally leads to probation or dismissal. I’m stunned to learn the college may still be selling videos of that speech, which is stolen property (does anyone know the verb “fence?”) and that the offender parlayed his credentials into a PR job where I presume he’s now writing copy. I doubt his recent life has taught him to distinguish between the words, “write” and “copy.”
I salute every student who is still working hard to behave honorably in an institution that did not in this case, as far as I can see, show the most courageous or exemplary honor under duress. I extend special sympathy to the other candidates who submitted their original drafts for this speech, and lost the contest to a cheater. I had exactly the same experience in fourth grade, and I’m still a little sore about it, but can say at this point that sticking with originality has served me well in the long run.
Q: How does the writing process reflect the inevitable influences of prior writers and thinkers? Is there an honorable way to credit inspirations and sources, or is it possible, as some are saying, that all writing is actually some form of plagiarism?
A: Are you serious? Writing is the hard work of raw creation; plagiarism is stealing. There is no gray area. Four consecutive words or more taken from another source must be placed between quotation marks and attributed, period. If the quote is longer than a sentence or two, it can be used only with written permission from the copyright holder, for a negotiated fee. Protocols for compliance are well established; requests to use my work come into my office every day of the week. Real writers take fastidious notes, sweat bullets over tracking down primary sources, get permissions, and still lie awake nights worrying about accidental failure to attribute a source. Our vocation is to invent new language on the page. It’s hard work, but people do it, trust me.
In the case of Peter St. John’s speech, we are not discussing “influence.” I read his address. Apart from some opening and closing banter, the words were mine. He didn’t borrow ideas, he read paragraphs, one after another, that I’d labored for weeks to invent, organize, and polish: he copped my beliefs, my style, even my rhythms of speech. He claims he used some disjointed notes passed on from a friend to emphasize his intended message. Allow me to translate: he clipped and pasted whole paragraphs, in sequence, from someone else’s work. Whether he ripped off his friend or a famous author is immaterial, morally speaking – when you deliver someone else’s speech, you’re an actor. There’s supposed to be a writing credit.
I’ve been plagiarized before, but this one takes the cake: stealing words about hope and goodness, and parading them in earnest tones before classmates, respected faculty, and even his family I suppose. It’s like shoplifting an armload of fireworks and shooting them off in front of the store. Definitely, it’s one for the “stupid crime” column.
[…] felt an expectation to produce something amazing,” he said. “And that’s not to say that what I did was justified, because it […]
[…] student speech were virtually identical to a previously published speech by Barbara Kingsolver, I wrote to inform Ms. Kingsolver. I extended my apologies on behalf of the College community for the […]
Congratulations to you, Sam! This woman is intelligent and fierce! I hope your “exclusive” jump starts the school out of its complacency!
Ms. Kingsolver’s responses are wonderful! I am so happy that Kingsolver did not hold back in order to preserve the administration’s attempt to save face. Congratulations to Sam and The Voice. Thank you to Ms. Kingsolver for her ferocity; I only hope the administration takes notice of the collective disgust with their veiling of the truth.
Kudos Sam for going right to the source! Kingsolver’s responses are all I could’ve ever hoped they would be.. and more.
Great job Sam, this is awesome!
you are a professional writer, its time to let go of the time you were slighted in fourth grade.
Oh, please Mickey! Kingsolver is just showing she’s human like the rest of us (and has a sense of humor)— “professional writer” or not, she’s not bulletproof to the effects of someone stealing her work. This article is perfection.
Well, I agree with Mickey.
Barbara: why do I feel threatened when reading your article? If you’re so pissed off then why don’t you sue Mr. St. John for copyright infringement? In life people try to take advantage of others and that’s what the legal system is for.
Oh and if you ever refer to my comments, please contact this website for “written permission from the copyright holder, for a negotiated fee” (Kingsolver, Barbara. “Barbara Kingsolver Discusses Peter St. John Plagiarism Case.” Interview. The College Voice. 26 Apr. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010.)
If you feel threatened by Ms. Kingsolver’s responses it’s because you have agency with Peter St. John. Don’t blame her for that.
I think this article got Higdon and others to realize this is on a new scale:
———————
To The Campus Community,
The feedback we have received since The College Voice reported on Peter St. John´s plagiarism of Barbara Kingsolver´s speech at last year´s Commencement has caused me to review how we handled this incident, and I would like to share my thoughts with you at this time.
Like so many others in our community, I am deeply disappointed that a Connecticut College student would blatantly steal another writer´s work and words. Upon learning of this egregious incident, we immediately began an investigation through the College´s judicial process, and I am satisfied that the matter was adjudicated fairly.
The sanctions that resulted from the judicial process are significant and considerably more extensive than were reported in the Voice. Under federal law, the only person who can legally reveal the sanctions is Peter St. John himself. I would like to publicly invite and urge Peter to make the full list of sanctions public along with a sincere apology to his classmates and their families. This would go a long way toward undoing the erroneous impressions created by the misrepresentation of the sanctions in the Voice as well as his reported statements downplaying the enormity of his offence.
At all times since we learned of the plagiarism, we have been extremely limited by what we could say publicly, based on federal law. However, in hindsight, it is clear to me that we could have–and should have–made our statement in Connecticut College Magazine more comprehensive and prominent. I offer my personal apology for the inadequacy of the magazine statement.
Disappointing as this plagiarism incident is, I am heartened that it is fostering a constructive campus conversation about honor and integrity. I want to thank the faculty and students who are using this incident as an educational opportunity inside and outside the classroom. The Dean of the Faculty will work with the Faculty Steering and Conference Committee to sponsor an event on academic integrity in the Fall. In the meantime, I hope all of you will consider attending the SGA-sponsored Honor Code Workshop on Tuesday, May 4. This workshop will provide a public forum for discussing both the seriousness of plagiarism and the implications of the Honor Code, continuing a year-long discussion among members of SGA, J-Board and the College´s deans.
Sincerely,
Lee Higdon
I read closely the original story in last week’s paper, the 35 comments posted on line, and President Higdon’s reaction and I applaud it all. What this demonstrates to me, a tuition-paying parent, is integrity not coverup. Good for the students for holding the administration’s feet to the fire; and well done, President Higdon, for reevaluating your initial response and closing the year with an SGA-sponsored dialogue on the Honor Code.
Sam, job well done. I’m surprised CC didn’t keep you from publishing this.
Why is it that Alumni have recieved no further follow up from administration? Higdon’s most recent email was an internal, current student email, as were other emails. This was completely mishandled by Conn- after all it is the class of 2009 who find themselves at the center of St. Johns fraud.
Sam, you and the staff at the Voice have done a spectacular job in covering this story and exposing the administration’s cover up: I have new found respect for The Voice as an independent newspaper and admire you for your outstanding journalism: you will be sorely missed next year!
Dear St. John,
Isn’t it highly ironic that your name invokes a religious figure when, you sir, are no god-fearing boy, for clearly you don’t fear the wrath of Kingsolver.
Have you ever read Animal Dreams? That shit is fucking scary.
Something like this was bound to happen at CC. Too many students abuse the honor code and get away with it (and this does not only pertain to plagiarism). It is not surprising that the college would deal with the matter in such a business-like manner, devoid of sincere obligation to the CC community and its alumni.
Like so many unjust cases that have occurred on that campus, the administration continuously CHOOSES to cover up its scandalous, illegal, immoral baggage. The sense of entitlement that St. John exhibited is, unfortunately, not atypical. His plagiarized writing just so happened to be delivered before a vast audience on a significant day, and thus, was inevitably going to be exposed.
For St. John’s understated stupidity and blatant criminal act, and for the current CC administration’s unjust and hypocritical response, not only have these two parties dragged their names through the mud, but in some way, they have tarnished the names of all CC students and alumni.
Connecticut Colle cannot and should not be blamed for this. This was an individuals mistake
They can and should be held responsible/blamed for their abysmal handling of this- a cover up
You’ve got genuinely a curiosity very own posting design and offer you very facts. The content articles are great to read and you don´t use whole lot ads like every one of the other bloggers.
It is the best time to make some plans for the future and it is time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I wish to suggest you few interesting things or suggestions. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I want to read more things about it!