Say Anything Blog

The university says he was fired for violating the privacy of the students.  The professor said he was just trying to expose the students to some accountability and wasn’t trying to violate anyone’s privacy.

Texas A&M International University in Laredo fired a professor for publishing the names of students accused of plagiarism.

In his syllabus, professor Loye Young wrote that he would “promptly and publicly fail and humiliate anyone caught lying, cheating or stealing.” After he discovered six students had plagiarized on an essay, Young posted their names on his blog, resulting in his firing last week.

“It’s really the only way to teach the students that it’s inappropriate,” he said.

Young, a former adjunct professor of management information systems, said he believes he made the right move. He said trials are public for a reason, and plagiarism should be treated the same way. He added that exposing cheaters is an effective deterrent.

“They were told the consequences in the syllabus,” he said. “They didn’t believe it.”

The six students received F’s and were reported to the school, but their grades may not stand because of Young’s blog post, according to insidehighered.com.

Young, who also operates a computer business in Laredo, was terminated for violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that prohibits the release of students’ educational records without consent. But he said he does not believe he infringed on anyone’s privacy.

“You have to hold them accountable,” he said. “If you don’t, you hold a grave danger of having an illiterate society.”

I’m siding with the professor here.  Without consequences, cheats and criminals act with relative impunity.  Sure these kids get failing grades for their courses, but that’s not enough.  They can re-take courses, and maybe even cheat again (armed with the knowledge of how they got caught before).  But if their wrong-doing is exposed to the light of public scrutiny?

They aren’t as likely to go back to old bad habits.

As the professor notes, we have public trials and open criminal records for a reason in this country.  Transparency and accountability are good things.