Madonna Constantine, a psychology professor at Columbia, will be fired for plagiarism and misconduct. Constantine drew national attention for claiming that a noose had been hung outside her office.
The Columbia’s Teachers College spokesperson stated: “I can confirm that Madonna Constantine has been terminated subject to a hearing before a faculty committee. We are terminating Madonna Constantine’s employment with Teachers College for cause subject to a hearing before a faculty committee.”
Constantine was accused of stealing material from a former colleague.
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This lady Madonna Constantine sound like she is the one who is mean spirited. I would bet that she staged the noose incident herself.
douglasC:
Some people have suggested that possibility in the past, but there is no evidence for this proposition. The sad part about this episode is that this Professor, apparently in way over her head academically, will be used as a poster child for all those who decry any attempts at affirmative action. Ignoring such well-qualified professors as Cornel West, Lawrence Bobo and Marcyliena Morgan to name just a few, they will point to Constantine as exhibit A that affirmative action doesn’t work and promotes the less than competent to prestigious positions. That argument is always tinged with the bile of racism, which clearly we do not need. In fairness, Constantine’s use of the racism defense in this matter does her little credit as well since the investigation appears to be fairly handled, and there is certainly no obvious motivation by the TC faculty to displace her due to her race. In fact, they rallied to her side during the noose incident. Much heat and smoke here, but little illumination. I think Constantine should take up Japanese studies, since sayonara appears to be in her future.
The first thing Professor Constantine did wrong was take a job at Teachers College. The programs in Psychology had been place under probation by the American Psychological Association before she was hired, and the Counseling Program was not functioning properly years before her first day of work there, which means she was walking into a bad situation to start with. To come into a conservative school that has multicultural courses to “appear liberal” and discuss race was the other mistake. Third, the programs in psychology at Teachers College are not true preparation or at all relevant for what awaits a professional once he/she graduates(current and prospective students, buyer beware). They do not focus on any of the skills
that are relevant to the field or to the world of work in general. The non-education programs at Teachers College are mere moneymakers for the school. I hope Professor
Constantine will take what was a bad situation, that got worse the longer she stayed there, and go on with her professional and personal life. In academia, for black professors or black students the way they discredit you, or stop you is to accuse you of plagiarism.
Perhaps this is the lesson she and others can take from her experience at Teacher College.