Good Noose: Plagiarist Professor Suit Tossed

Here's some career advice for this two-bit fraud. Maybe she can sign up with Michelle Obama and lecture us all on obesity. She can be a test case on how to shed a hundred pounds and stay relevant.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean everybody's out to get you.

A controversial professor who contended Columbia's Teachers College canned her in a "frame-up" that was part of a "complex conspiracy" has lost her bid to get her job back.

The school's decision to fire Madonna Constantine -- who made headlines in 2007 when she said she found a noose hanging from her office door -- was neither "arbitrary or capricious," Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jane Solomon found.

Constantine was fired last June, after the school's faculty advisory committee found that she had "committed plagiarism, and also that she had fabricated documents that she presented in her defense," Solomon wrote.

Constantine contended there was a "frame-up," that the committee didn't give her a fair shake, and that Teachers College president Susan Fuhrman's decision to fire her on the committee's recommendation was "arbitrary and capricious."

Solomon disagreed.

In a decision made public yesterday, she said the committee had thoroughly reviewed the case, and their report "fully supports Fuhrman's decision."

"Professor Constantine's theory of the case would require a complex conspiracy among many persons including the highest levels of the college's administration, its outside counsel, and several former students and a former faculty member," the committee had commented.

Oddly enough the "investigation" into the noose hanging is still unresolved. A shame nobody wants to come out and actually say she did it herself.

Columbia 'Noose' Plagiarist Sues ... Again

When you're exposed as a fraud and a plagiarist, you should have the common decency to just slink off into obscurity or wait for your appointment in the Obama administration. But no, this one just can't do that. She's the victim, you see. Whine about racism, keep filing frivolous suit after frivolous suit and you figure to walk off with a handsome payday at some point.

A lawsuit-happy former Columbia University professor yesterday renewed her claims that she was the victim of an "academic lynching" when she was canned for plagiarism last year.

Madonna Constantine, who made headlines in 2007 when a hangman's noose was found dangling from her office door, filed the newest action against the university in Manhattan federal court.

It's the fourth time the academic, who is black, has sued the school since she was booted for allegedly cribbing from her colleagues and students.

A judge tossed out one of the cases earlier this year.

Two years after the mysterious noose incident and there's still no resolution to that case. It's widely believed Constantine put it there herself, but just the mere mention of that might cause us to be called raaaaacist. Oddly, there is surveillance video from the area where the noose was placed but the university refuses to release it.

I wonder why?

Disgraced Columbia 'Noose' Professor Sues for $200 Million

Nothing like a plagiarist who was justifiably fired looking to cash in. I guess her current job prospects are pretty bleak. Funny, isn't it, how the mysterious noose hanging incident has never been solved?

She first made national headlines when a hangman's noose was found dangling from her Columbia University office door.

Now, Madonna Constantine, the controversial former Teachers College professor fired last year for plagiarism, is resurrecting the image with a $200 million lawsuit that charges her former employer with an "academic lynching."

Hmm, an academic lynching? How exactly is that? You lifted someone else's work, got caught, and you were lynched? Such casual use of the language reinforces my belief it was Constantine herself who put the noose there herself. I'll believe that until proven otherwise.

"It was a prosecution, it wasn't an investigation," Constantine's lawyer, Paul Giacomo Jr., said of the school probe that led to her firing. "They basically set her up."

The complaint says that the allegations against Constantine were fueled by "academic rivalry and political intrigue" and grew into a "complex and calculated scheme to use false information to discredit" her.

"The manner in which the scheme was hatched and carried out is tantamount to an academic lynching," the complaint concludes.

A spokesman for Teachers College said the case was "totally without merit, and we intend to defend against it vigorously."

Last year they claimed she was being blackmailed. Now she's the victim of a lynching.

Nothing like throwing some incendiary language around and playing the victim card.

Just a disgrace.

Thanks to Gateway Pundit for the link!

Surprise! Fired Columbia 'Noose' Professor Sues

Don't they all sue? Apparently she's having trouble finding other employment since plagiarism raps are hard to shake in academia, so she'll just go for the quick payday instead.

A former Columbia University psychology professor who found a noose dangling from her door and was later fired for plagiarism Friday sued the school, charging that she was unjustly ousted.

Madonna Constantine, who had been one of two black tenured professors at Teachers College, is seeking to undo her June firing on charges of academic plagiarism. Her dismissal came months after she found the racist symbol last fall at her office.

The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, contends Constantine was targeted by rivals within Teachers College who manufactured allegations that she cribbed from others without attribution. It says she was a victim of "extreme bias" from the lawyers brought in to investigate the charges.

It's been a year now and still no results from the "investigation" into who left the noose on the door. I believe the Warren Commission wrapped up quicker than that.

Of course, all signs point to Constantine having done it herself, but we can't say that because it would be racist or something like that.

'Basically, She Is Being Blackmailed'

Disgraced Columbia University Professor Madonna Constantine is ratcheting up her victim status by now bizarrely claiming she's being blackmailed.

On the upside, she now claims her firing isn't racist. I guess we can consider this progress.

The contentious Columbia Teachers College professor canned for plagiarism amid an investigation into a noose hung on her office door backed off charges of racism yesterday - and instead accused the school of playing vicious politics.

"So much of it is political, it is sick," said Madonna Constantine. "Let them make it a racial issue. It's all about alliances."

"All of this is very fishy," the ejected educator said. "I don't know what to think in terms of motivation. I think the climate is political."

Constantine, a tenured professor of psychology and education with a focus on racial issues, was fired on June 12 after an outside panel ruled she had plagiarized other work in her articles.

At the time, Constantine said she felt "systematically targeted."

"As one of the only two tenured black women full professors at Teachers College, it pains me to conclude that I have been specifically and systematically targeted," she said.

Well, while it may now not be considered racist in her mind, she's still adept at playing the victim.

Her attorney, Paul Giacomo, displayed a briefing in which he claimed that in all the instances she was accused of copying the ideas of others, her work had actually appeared first.

"They are trying to whitewash and get rid of this toxic situation," Giacomo said. "They were trying to eliminate the situation by eliminating Dr. Constantine."

He said his client had until July 15 to decide whether she would appeal the firing to a faculty committee.

If she does not, he said, she will be paid through the end of the year. If Constantine does appeal, she will no longer be paid.

"Basically, she is being blackmailed," he said.

Sure.

Speaking of playing the victim, check out this insipid headline:

Victim of hate incident fired from Columbia University

Clearly some folks will never shed the victim status.

Columbia Fires 'Noose' Professor

You may recall the very suspect noose hanging incident at Columbia University last fall revolving around Professor Madonna Constantine. From the very beginning the incident smelled incredibly fishy and the university stonewalled any real investigation from the outset, although that didn't stop the PC mob from issuing demands before any real investigation could commence.

Though lo and behold, once the incident and other matters pertaining to Constantine were examined more thoroughly it became evident that Constantine herself was under suspicion, and one of the main reasons is she was enveloped in a very real plagiarism scandal.

Well, in what I must admit comes as a shocker, Constantine has been fired by Columbia, pending an appeal, naturally.

Columbia University’s Teachers College announced today that it planned to fire Madonna G. Constantine, a tenured professor, for plagiarism. The announcement, which came in a memorandum delivered to faculty members, said Ms. Constantine would be suspended immediately and would be dismissed, subject to a review by a faculty committee.

A law firm hired by the university to conduct an investigation reported in February that Ms. Constantine, a professor of psychology and education, had committed more than two dozen instances of plagiarism. Ms. Constantine has vehemently denied the accusations and has, in turn, accused others of plagiarizing her work. She has also accused colleagues of envy and racism.

Constantine obviously is quick to accuse others of misdeeds (when in trouble, project quickly) in order to deflect attention.

It bears noting her dismissal comes after an 18-month probe into the plagiarism charge, meaning they were ten months into the investigation when the noose incident conveniently occurred.

The letter, obtained by The New York Sun from a source at Teachers College, 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.

"During the months since the College levied sanctions against her," the letter said, "Professor Constantine continued to make accusations of plagiarism, including in at least one instance to the press, against those whose works she had plagiarized."

When news of the plagiarism investigation became known in February, Ms. Constantine strenuously denied the charges. In addition to saying that it was she who the victim of plagiarism, Ms. Constantine said the school targeted her because of the "structural racism that pervades this institution."

How tiresome and pathetic.

Now let's just hope the appeal process doesn't drag on for years and this hack is promptly terminated.

It would also be nice if the NYPD could ever tell us who hung the noose. My hunch has always been it was Constantine herself or someone close to her.

In March, the New York Post disclosed that a grand jury had subpoenaed Ms. Constantine's university records, as part of its investigation into the alleged hate crime last October, when Ms. Constantine reported to police that a noose had been hung on her office door. The records included Ms. Constantine's financial contracts with the college and the details of the plagiarism investigation, an apparent widening of the probe to determine if someone close to Ms. Constantine may have put the noose on her door in an attempt to create sympathy for her, and to deflect attention from the plagiarism investigation.

The NYPD declined to comment on when the results of the grand jury investigation would be made known.

Naturally, you can expect a lawsuit from Constantine.

“I believe that nothing that has happened to me this year is coincidental, particularly when I reflect upon the hate crime I experienced last semester involving a noose on my office door,” she said in February in an e-mail message to faculty and students. “As one of only two tenured black women full professors at Teachers College, it pains me to conclude that I have been specifically and systematically targeted.”

Thanks to Hot Air, Instapundit and Protein Wisdom for the links.

Columbia Noose Investigation Zeroes in on Plagiarist Professor

Seems like the Warren Commission wrapped up the investigation into the JFK assassination quicker than authorities have resolved the very suspicious noose incident involving plagiarist Madonna Constantine.

Well, it appears there may finally be some movement in the case.

A Manhattan grand jury has subpoenaed the university records of the controversial black Columbia Teachers College professor who found a noose hanging from her office door - signaling that the investigation is broadening to examine possible links between the teacher, her closest friends and the racially charged incident, The Post has learned.

According to sources, the subpoenas obtained recently by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force and prosecutors demanded the college hand over a laundry list of records pertaining to embattled professor Madonna Constantine, whose colleague found a 4-foot hangman's noose on her office doorknob last October.

The incident happened at the height of the school's probe of plagiarism charges against her.

Last month, Teachers College announced that Constantine was responsible for two dozen incidents of stealing the work of a faculty member and two students under her tutelage, including lifting passages from their dissertations and hijacking their ideas. Constantine has denied the charge.

In addition to the plagiarism report, investigators want to examine all the information gleaned during the university's probe and by a law firm and private investigator hired by the school to investigate the plagiarism allegations.

They also want Constantine's financial contract with the school - which would include her salary, benefits and pension - and any other administrative personnel and academic records.

Sources said the records would provide investigators with a timeline on the tightly guarded 18-month plagiarism probe and what Constantine - one of only two tenured black Teachers College professors - stood to possibly lose if she were found guilty and her job were threatened.

Prediction: Someone close to Constantine or Constantine herself will be found to have placed the noose there, and they'll somehow blame it on racism and a climate of intolerance.

Previously.

Instapundit links. Thanks!

Bad 'Noose' For Columbia Professor: Busted for Plagiarism

Ever since the original complaint of the alleged noose incident, I suspected this Madonna Constantine was a total fraud.

Now that she's been busted for plagiarism, my suspicions have been confirmed.

The black Columbia University professor who last fall found a hangman's noose pinned to her office door plagiarized the work of another faculty member and two students, according to a school investigation released yesterday.

The plagiarism probe was already under way last year when a 4-foot twine noose was discovered on the door of psychology and education professor Madonna Constantine's office, officials at the university's Teachers College said.

They said they disciplined Constantine for stealing other people's work for articles she published in academic journals.

They cited two dozen instances of plagiarism over the past five years that were substantiated in an 18-month investigation by a Manhattan law firm.

Teachers College spokesman Joe Levine would not say how Constantine was punished, but college officials said her position is secure.

Now how on earth can someone have two dozen incidents of plagiarism against them and still have a job?

Only at Columbia.

Well, I suspect they're deathly afraid of the dreaded R word.

In a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News Service yesterday, Constantine said she was the victim of a racist conspiracy.

The school accused her of plagiarism because of the "structural racism that pervades this institution," she charged. "As one of only two tenured black women full professors at Teachers College, it pains me to conclude that I have been specifically and systematically targeted."

Constantine said she would appeal to a faculty committee.

If there were "structural racism" as this fraud alleges, she never would have been hired.

Meanwhile, the noose incident has been completely swept under the rug, and the longer they drag that out, the more I'll believe she put it there herself.

Whatever happened to the videotapes?

Cops have not been able to identify a suspect in the noose incident. They have not ruled out people close to Constantine or others who might have had an ax to grind with her.

After the October incident, cops were rebuffed - by Constantine herself - in their efforts to catch the person behind the alleged hate crime.

The professor was one of several faculty members who objected to the idea of posting surveillance cameras in her hallway, according to sources familiar with the campus investigation.

Previously.

Michelle Malkin has more.

Columbia Professor Finds Noose Outside Office Door

We'll first condemn this act if indeed someone at Columbia hung a noose outside the door of a black professor as a means of intimidation. Still, I can't help be suspicious about the convenient timing of this incident and the Jena 6 case.

It's not as if there haven't been phony cases of alleged bias on college campuses of late.

Black Columbia professor finds noose at office

A black professor at Columbia University's Teachers College found a hangman's noose on her office door yesterday, an act that university officials immediately condemned and reported to police.

"The Teachers College community and I deplore this hateful act, which violates every Teachers College and societal norm," Susan Fuhrman, president of the college, said in a statement.

The professor who was targeted, faculty and students said, has distinguished herself as a scholar in race relations. Neither police nor the college identified the 44-year-old professor.

"She's very passionate about social justice and equality," said Shawn Maxam, 26, of Brooklyn, who is studying music education and sociology education at Teachers College. "I'm not surprised or shocked. There are issues surrounding race and class at Teachers College."

Other students said they were hurt after learning of the incident.

"I'm shocked," said Nichole Henry, 23, who is studying to become a physical education teacher. "For a hate crime to go down at Teachers College, this is such a diverse school.

"I can't believe it. It's really disappointing. It hurts."

Again, such an act is deplorable, but is it beyond the realm of possibility this teacher is trying to promote a cause and decided to stage this incident?

Debbie Sonu, 31, a fourth-year doctoral student in urban education, said she was disappointed about the incident but encouraged by the school's swift response.

"It's a wake-up call," Sonu said.

She made reference to the case of the six black teenagers in Jena, La., who civil rights activists have said were treated unfairly by the local criminal justice system and prosecuted overzealously when fights along racial lines broke out at their school last year.

Take a look at the volume of stories currently available about this story. If by chance this incident was staged by the professor or another school employee, will there be a comparable wave of reports? Or will we hear gibberish about how we must understand what drove someone to perpetrate a hoax?

The New York Post identifies the professor as Madonna Constantine and suggests the possible suspect is another professor.

Sources said the sickening act targeting award-winning author and psychologist Madonna Constantine, 44, may stem from a bitter academic dispute with a white rival professor.

"They're investigating whether another professor put the noose there rather than a student," one source said. "They have someone they're looking at, another professor who had a rivalry with her and was jealous over the work she did."

Coming on the heels of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia, this is a rather curious take.

Another student tied the incident to the university's infamous invitation to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the school last month.

"This is same Columbia that let a murder[er] and racist [speak] in a public forum and the crowd cheered him. It begs the question: Is Columbia not encouraging this type of behavior?" the student wrote on the Web.

Constantine could not be reached for comment. She taught at Ohio State University before Columbia.

According to the only entry about her on the Web site "Rate My Professors,"Dr. Constantine is fun and informative . . . a bit biased and something of a feminazi, but not to any offensive extent."

Constantine is the author of this book.

Video from WNBC here.

Columbia President Lee Bollinger had a statement.

"This is an assault on African Americans and therefore it is an assault on every one of us," Bollinger said in a statement. "I know I speak on behalf of every member of our communities in condemning this horrible action."

More from the Columbia Spectator.