Columbia University Suspends Prof Who Made Noose Claim

Professor Madonna Constantine made the news in October 2007 for claiming that someone stuck a noose on her door. That incident remains unsolved, but a closer look at Constantine's academic record showed that she engaged in repeated examples of plagiarism.

After a lengthy examination, she's been put on indefinite suspension by the Teachers College at Columbia University.

In a letter sent out today to Teachers College faculty, the college president, Susan Fuhrman, and dean, Tom James, said the faculty advisory committee had rejected Ms. Constantine's appeal of the plagiarism charges. They said Ms. Constantine was suspended as of today, but that she is entitled to appeal the decision or request a hearing before the faculty executive committee.

The letter, obtained by The New York Sun from a Teachers College source, said the faculty advisory committee upheld an 18-month investigation by a Manhattan law firm, Hughes Hubbard & Reed, which found that Ms. Constantine had plagiarized two dozen times works of two former doctoral students and a former colleague.

I'm still wondering whether we will learn whether the noose incident was nothing more than a hoax and/or ploy to distract attention from her concerns over her academic misconduct.