Goeglein Plagiarizes Hart, Resigns
By A.S. Erickson | Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A.S. Erickson
Timothy Goeglein got caught up in a whirlwind on February 29. That morning, it was found out that Goeglein had plagiarized a February 28 Op-Ed from an article Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Hart had written for The Dartmouth Review in 1998. By the evening he was out of a job.
Goeglein was well known in political circles as Karl Rove’s right hand in the 2004 election, a liaison between the White House and conservative Christian leaders.
The Op-Ed in question was published in the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. The article, about education policy, raised the suspicions of blogger (and former News-Sentinel columnist) Nancy Nall when it mentioned the ideas of a Dartmouth professor with an unusual name, Eugen Rosenstock-Hussey. Nall googled his name and was led to the archives of this newspaper, where she found Professor Hart’s 1998 article entitled “What is a College Education?” Reproduced below is a small portion of the plagiarized text:
A notable professor of philosophy at Dartmouth College in the last century, Eugene Rosenstock-Hussey, expressed the matter succinctly. His wisdom is not only profound but also worth pondering in this new century. He said, “The goal of education is to form the Citizen. And the Citizen is a person who, if need be, can re-found his civilization.”
He meant that, I think, in quite a large sense. He did not mean that you had to master all the specialties you can think of, but rather to be an educated man or woman, you needed to be familiar with the large and indispensable components of our civilization.
This does not mean you should not study other cultures and civilizations. It does mean that to be a citizen of this one, you should be aware of what it is and where it — we — came from. It can hardly be challenged that the United States of America is part of the narrative of European history. Europe is overwhelmingly the source, and some parts of Europe more than others: Our language, literature, legal tradition, political arrangements derive, demonstrably, from England. This Britain-America connection is central.
Compare that with this passage from Professor Hart:
A notable Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth, Eugene Rosenstock-Hussey often expressed the matter succinctly, “The goal of education,” he would say, “is to form the Citizen. And the Citizen is a person who, if need be, can re-found his civilization.”
He meant that in quite large a sense. He did not mean that you had to master all the specialties you can think of.
He meant that you need to be familiar with the large and indispensable components of your—this—civilization.
This certainly does not mean that you should not study other cultures and civilizations. It does mean that to be a Citizen of this one you should be aware of what it is and where it came from.
It can scarcely be challenged that the United States is part of the narrative of European history. It owes little or nothing to Confucius or Laotse or to Chief Shaka or to the Aztecs. At the margin it owes a bit to the American Indians, but not a great deal — corn, tobacco, some legendary material. But Europe is overwhelmingly the source. And some parts of Europe more than others: Our language, legal tradition, political arrangements derive, and demonstrably so, from England.
Nall published her findings shortly before eight in the morning; soon, The Drudge Report had picked up the story, and it quickly became a ubiquitous topic in the blogosphere. Goeglein reacted quickly, taking full responsibility: “I am entirely at fault. It was wrong of me. There are no excuses.” He also wrote to Professor Hart “to apologize, and do so categorically and without exception.”
When contacted by CNN, Professor Hart said, “I told him I was flattered he’d used it. It doesn’t damage him in my estimation at all. I’m glad he spread the word.” He went on to note that plagiarism in an academic context, however, would be a more serious matter. In an e-mail to The Dartmouth Review Professor Hart looked at the big picture:
Bush was planning to go to war in Iraq within weeks after he took office in January 2001. This has been documented. He sold the invasion through lies about WMD. No one found even a tube of Chinese toothpaste in Iraq. A bit of plagiarism should not trouble this White House at all. The Dartmouth Review publishes a lot of very good material, and should take a bow.
The White House had been unaware that Goeglein was writing periodical Op-Eds for his local paper, so the news came as a surprise. The White House Press Secretary stated the following: “Tim accepted responsibility for the columns published under his name in his local newspaper, and has apologized for not upholding the standards expected by the president.”
Say what you will of Goeglein’s misconduct, but his quick reaction to take full responsibility and resign is admirable. After all, it was just a week ago that Columbia University announced they would retain a professor who was found to have committed multiple acts of blatant plagiarism over the past few years. n
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