Universities Weblog

The Chronicle of Higher Education is among a number of news sources and blogs covering the ongoing battle between the faculty and the president at Southern Illinois University (SIU). Earlier this month the SIU faculty senate voted 45-5 to ask for President Glenn Poshard's resignation over accusations that he plagiarized portions of his doctoral dissertation.

The fight to remove poshard has become somewhat nasty and taken on political overtones. Poshard has been president of SIU since November of 2005. In August of this year a group calling itself "Alumni and Faculty Against Corruption at SIU" accused Poshard of plagiarism in his 1984 doctoral dissertation. While the dissertation would not meet current standards for proper referencing of sources, part of the controversy is retrospective; it is unclear whether Poshard's dissertation met referencing and citation standards of the time, but it seems plausible that it did. Poshard took steps to try and placate the faculty members involved, offering to rewrite his dissertation under their guidance.

If "Alumni and Faculty Against Corruption at SIU" had stuck strictly to the issue of Poshard's academic integrity, the battle at SIU might seem more righteous. But the group evidently began by trying to Blackmail Poshard into rehiring, Chris Dussold – a former faculty member who had been released for (you guessed it) plagiarism.

I said that the struggle had taken on political overtones. Poshard served in the state senate in Illinois from 1884-88, was a U.S. Congressman for the next ten years, and ran for governor of Illinois in 1998. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is among those who have voiced public support for Poshard.

The blogosphere is filled with opinions on the SIU tizzy. Peter Kirstein calls Poshard a disgraced, fraudulent plagiarist in his blog. Graducator points out that the Chicago Tribune is among those calling for Poshard's dismissal.

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