Madonna Constantine

In an effort to hold onto her position as a tenured faculty member at Teachers College, controversial Professor Madonna Constantine is grasping at the last shreds of internal process available to her.

After a tumultuous year characterized by suspicions of plagiarism and a hate crime that stunned campus, Madonna Constantine, Teachers College professor of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, has been suspended from her tenured position. Her termination will be made effective December 31, 2008, pending an appeal.

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Teachers College was forced to do some soul-searching this year as the discovery of a noose on a professor’s door—and subsequent revelations about plagiarism on her part—brought to the fore questions about the school’s handling of racial issues.
On Oct. 9, a noose, an infamous symbol of lynching, was placed on the office door of psychology and education professor Madonna Constantine’s office door. Shortly thereafter, a swastika was found painted on the door of a TC professor known for her research on the Holocaust, kicking off a campuswide dialogue on the implications of hate crimes.

The noose found on Teachers College Professor Madonna Constantine’s office door in October is up for a new round of close scrutiny in light of reports this week that a state grand jury has subpoenaed the school’s records concerning Constantine in an investigation of the noose.

A state grand jury has subpoenaed Teachers College records concerning Constantine in an investigation of the appearance of the noose her door, an official confirmed.

Last week, Teachers College announced that professor Constantine had plagiarized the works of others. Surprisingly, the college has indicated that, though Constantine faces official sanctions, she will be allowed to keep her job. To impress upon students and faculty the gravity of Constantine’s actions, and to live up to its stated commitment to academic integrity, TC must explain its reasoning.

A look at the 36 passages that served as the basis of Teachers College’s determination last week that Professor Madonna Constantine was guilty of academic plagiarism illustrates the similarities between her writing and that of her students. But Constantine and her lawyer continue to maintain that she had authored the passages in question.

Embattled Teachers College Professor Madonna Constantine denied charges of plagiarism Wednesday and announced plans to fight sanctions imposed by the TC administration, a day after a memo detailing the allegations became public.

Read the official statements made by Constantine and Teachers College.

Professor Madonna Constantine has been sanctioned by Teachers College for plagiarism, according to an official memo obtained by Spectator Tuesday evening. The memo, dated Feb. 18, was hand delivered to professors on the Office of the President’s stationery.

We, the members of the Association of Counseling Center Training Agencies, are writing to express our support for you in the wake of this racist attack both on you as a person and on the work you do in the area of diversity. We are both saddened and angered by what has occurred and hope you are personally safe. We have watched with appreciation the response by your community at Columbia and nationally to this attack and threat.