Lead Us Not Into Plagiarism

Really, the evidence is in. Glenn Poshard, the president of Southern Illinois University, committed plagiarism in both his doctoral dissertation and his master's thesis. The best he can do for the University is to resign. And authorities in Illinois ought to open an inquiry about its College of Education and Human Services, which granted his degrees. SIU's Daily Egyptian has done yeoman service in exposing the scandal. I have one caveat about Monday's editorial. Its claim that"... if the Pope was accused of plagiarizing his sermons, we would still expect a prompt investigation" works as hyperbole, but of course it isn't true. Papal plagiarism might be exposed by outside investigators and might embarrass the Holy Office, but the canons for sermons are not the same as canons for academic work. Sermons intend to repeat and interpret an old, old story, not to stake out new knowledge. And -- as much as they like us to kiss at least their rings -- college and university presidents are simply not popes. There hasn't been a papal resignation in almost 600 years. Hat tip.