Phew! He won't have to find work in the blueberry fields after all — though the farmers could use the help

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Michigan State U. Dismisses Plagiarism Allegations Against Dean of College of Education

In October of last year, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Jerlando Jackson, the Dean of the College of Education at Michigan State, alleging that he had committed plagiarism in a number of academic papers over the course of many years.

From that report:

The complaint includes nearly 40 examples of plagiarism that span nine of Jackson’s papers, including his Ph.D. thesis, and range from single sentences to full pages. It adds to the allegations of research misconduct already facing the embattled dean, who was a coauthor on several papers implicated in complaints against diversity officials earlier this year, including Harvard University’s chief diversity officer, Sherri Ann Charleston.

“Jackson has failed all ordinary standards of academic honesty,” said Peter Wood, the head of the National Association of Scholars and a former provost at Boston University, where he helped lead plagiarism investigations of faculty and alumni. “As long as he remains as a dean, the university has no legitimate basis to hold students and faculty to basic standards of intellectual integrity.”

Now, months later, the school claims it has cleared Jackson of any wrongdoing, and is wrapping the story in a defense of DEI policies.

A letter sent to university leaders this month — and signed by President Kevin Guskiewicz and Provost Thomas Jeitschko — said a “preliminary assessment” was conducted by the university’s research integrity officer after it received a plagiarism complaint against Jackson.

Following that assessment, “it was determined that there was not sufficient credible evidence to support further review of the Allegation,” said the letter, which was shared with The State News by an MSU spokesperson.

“The (research integrity officer’s) thorough review encompassed relevant documents, records, and materials referred to in the Allegation and confirmed that Dean Jackson’s work meets our institution’s highest standards of academic integrity. In alignment with the university’s exoneration policy, we recognize the importance of restoring the reputation of individuals involved in unsubstantiated misconduct allegations. Michigan State University will continue to actively support Dean Jackson and his distinguished career in education.”

The dean’s accusers are not satisfied. I can’t say that I’m entirely comfortable basing a conclusion of plagiarism on an AI analysis, but it is what educators are employing to catch dishonest students, so sauce for the goose and all that, I suppose.