Someone sent an anonymous letter to Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, alleging that Harvard’s current “chief diversity and inclusion officer Sherri Ann Charleston committed 40 instances of plagiarism over the years,” Fox News reports.
The Washington Free Beacon originally published the complaint. “Experts who reviewed the allegations against Charleston said that they ranged from minor plagiarism to possible data fraud and warrant an investigation.”
The conservative news website also accuses Charleston of failing to provide “‘proper attribution’ to several authors,” and that she “took credit for her husband’s work in the 2014 study.” Of note, “[h]er husband, LaVar Charleston, co-authored the 2014 study and his previous research is cited throughout.”
Prior to joining Harvard in 2020, Charleston served as the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s chief affirmative action officer. Per the Ivy League institution’s website, “[s]he is one of the nation’s leading experts in diversity and higher education.”
This campaign against Charleston seems eerily similar to the one waged against former Harvard president Claudine Gay, which ultimately played a role in her resignation. And the Free Beacon, along with conservative activist Chirstopher Rufo and Bill Ackman, a billionaire investor, spearheaded the campaign to oust Gay from Harvard.
When the complaint was released, Rufo shared it on X, writing “Harvard’s president was a plagiarist. Ha[r]vard’s chief diversity officer is a plagiarist. We will keep exposing them, one by one, until the university restores truth, rather than racialist ideology, as its mission.”
But as New York University professor Erica Foldy who has extensively studied organizations and racism, stated, “Concerns about plagiarism erupt when there is a larger political agenda afoot…And they disappear when that political agenda disappears.”
“The people behind these attacks have no interest in plagiarism,” Foldy added. “It’s, sadly, kind of predictable. When there is progress toward equity and justice, then there are reactions against that. There’s always going to be a backlash, and that’s what we’re seeing.”
As of yet, Harvard has not confirmed or denied that the plagiarism claims sparked an investigation. Jason Newton, a spokesperson for the university did send a statement to NBC News: “Harvard is a community that embraces diversity in backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.”
“Through her leadership as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Sherri Ann Charleston has advanced our belief that everyone who comes to Harvard belongs at Harvard and, whether a student, faculty, staff member or researcher, should have the opportunity to succeed,” the statement continued.