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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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.
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.
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.
This lady Madonna Constantine sound like she is the one who is mean spirited. I would bet that she staged the noose incident herself.