CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa ― Trustees of an Iowa community college have reprimanded the school president for plagiarizing a portion of his Martin Luther King Day speech last month.
Last week the Kirkwood Community College board approved a motion expressing its disappointment that President Mick Starcevich didn’t attribute the source of an anecdote he used. It came from a blog post that had appeared on The New York Times website.
The Iowa City Press-Citizen also says the board commended Starcevich for publicly admitting and taking responsibility for the offense eight days later, during a college forum.
Board chairwoman Lois Bartelme told the newspaper that the board tried to balance the seriousness of the offense with the successes in Starcevich’s long tenure at the college.
