Harvard University’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, Sherri Ann Charleston, has been accused of plagiarizing in her academic work. The allegations were made in a complaint filed with the university and a subsequent analysis by the Washington Free Beacon. It is not the first time that the prestigious institution has been embroiled in such a scandal, with President Claudine Gay also recently accused of plagiarism.
The complaint against Charleston includes 40 separate allegations of plagiarism, spanning across her entire publication record. The complaint alleges that in her dissertation submitted to the University of Michigan in 2009, Charleston failed to properly attribute nearly a dozen scholars whose work she referenced or paraphrased. Furthermore, in the sole peer-reviewed journal article she wrote, which was co-authored with her husband LaVar Charleston in 2014, the couple is accused of repurposing much of LaVar Charleston’s 2012 study and passing it off as a new piece of research.
The 2014 article, which appeared in the Journal of Negro Education and was co-authored also by Jerlando Jackson, now dean of Michigan State University’s College of Education, is said to have reproduced the 2012 study’s methods, findings, and description of survey subjects. The complaint alleges that the Charlestons did not conduct new interviews for the 2014 study but instead relied on LaVar Charleston’s interviews from 2012, constituting a severe breach of research ethics.
The allegations against Sherri Ann Charleston are unlikely to enhance Harvard University’s reputation, particularly given its recent troubles. However, the institution has come out strongly in defense of its embattled diversity and inclusion officer. Responding to the complaint filed against Charleston, a Harvard spokesperson stated that the university had “full confidence in the academic integrity of Sherri Charleston.” The spokesperson went on to point out that the complaint had been filed by an anonymous source, casting doubt on its provenance and credibility.
It remains to be seen whether the allegations against Sherri Ann Charleston will be fully investigated by Harvard University. However, given the institution’s reputation for upholding scholarly standards, it seems likely that the accusations will be taken very seriously indeed. In the wake of the current scandal, the university may also revisit its policies and procedures around plagiarism and appropriate attribution. Whatever the outcome, the controversy surrounding Charleston is a reminder of the importance of academic integrity and the need for scholars to be vigilant in protecting it.
