14 Years

14 years is too long to wait for retribution. A certain university president just resigned due to an anonymous email accusing him of plagiarism. Technically the allegations are true. I recall pointing out the passages that hadn't been cited and were just plopped verbatim onto the page back when I saw the dissertation. At the time I was pissed by his laziness, not just with the dissertation, but with all of the other writing he had done through the course of acquiring his degree. I was pissed and disappointed in many of his then failings as a human being. I won't go into the details. But 14 years is too long to wait to make this public.

Now it is just tacky to bring up this sort of failing. I will pause to say that I don't feel this way about everything - actual crimes that harm people should be punished no matter how much time had passed. In this case, the man's contributions and successes after this degree should far out-measure his laziness back in the day. It is only because of his success now that this is even an issue. If he didn't have the smarts and skills represented by the degree, he would not have gotten to the point where this sort of allegation could be so damaging. I can't see continued laziness being rewarded for this long. I just can't.

I know I didn't turn him in. I think destroying his career this far out is inviting some serious bad mojo or karma.   But now I am going through the list of folks I know who knew, and wonder. Who did it? What was the motivation? Was it G who is now retired and is full of the need to right past wrongs? Was it A who is in the midst of his own success? What made this come up now?

Did someone hate him so much that they decided the moment he had his dream job was the right time? And it was his dream job - the pinnacle of his success as he defined at the beginning of his career in higher ed. He told lots of people that one day he would be President of ---. And he's done it. Only to have it ripped from his grasp. What sort of person holds on to bad feelings this long? I am glad that I got over it. I can't imagine holding on to that sort of toxicity. Not good for anyone. 

Follow Up on Match

So, I heard back a few weeks later that while I was a viable match after further testing, my match was no longer eligible for treatment. That could be good. It could be bad. I hope that he was responding well to his treatment and no longer needed my cells. I am not convinced, but it could have been and I will never know.