One of the first things taught in high school, then sacrosanct in higher education, is to provide attribution when making use of other peoples’ work. In other words, give credit where credit is due.
So the question is what was Principal Matt Sanger of Garden Spot High School thinking when he borrowed liberally and without attribution from a speech by the late David Foster Wallace given in 2005?
See reports in the Lancaster Newspapers : “Garden Spot principal defends speech on school website” and
“Plagiarism perils: What are the consequences?”
We don’t know Sanger and don’t want to judge him. Nor do we know what colleges or universities he attended.
Was cheating common where he attended? Is this how he prepared his papers?
Or is he facing some sort of mid-life crisis that caused him to reach for an easy way to deal with a solemn chore for which he may have felt inadequate. (Many worthy clergy must feel the same when it comes to their weekly sermon; some would do well to use the material of others … but with proper attribution.)
If a president of the Chamber of Commerce or a Rotary Club speaker were to make the same mistake, we might just smile and think the less of him or her. But this is a principal of a high school, a role model for the faculty, the students and, indeed, the community.
If this is how Sanger has made his way throughout his academic life, then we hope that this humiliating experience will have taught him better.
If this is indeed the result of a ‘life crisis’, we hope he will seek counseling.
A positive aspect of this sorry affair is the attention it draws to ethical lapses that perhaps have become more common for Sanger’s and younger generations: a lack of respect for education and fair play.
Unwittingly, Sanger’s actions and subsequent disgrace taught an invaluable lesson in ethics for the graduating class…and a refresher course for the rest of us.
Plagiarism is tricky. From the examples given in the newspaper yesterday, I wonder if the speech was legally the product of plagiarism. It was not a direct copy, even though the spirit of the speech appeared to be completely stolen.
I was surprised at famous plagiarism examples from the past including Kennedy’s “Ask not what ….” and Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. Perhaps we should all make use of Issac Newton’s (probably borrowed) quote “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” And remember Bonaparte’s (modified) “The truth of history is that it is a fable that has been agreed upon.”
Is it plagiarism if NewsLanc uses Lancaster Newspapers’ photo of Matt Sanger?
EDITOR: May be. We apologize to LNP if the photo indeed came from them. We will check into it and, if so, take corrective actions to avoid this happening in the future.
When LNP goes on a witch hunt….watch out!!!!