Plagiarism Compromises Harvard's Integrity

To the editors:



I strongly disagree with editors’ comments (“One Week Later,” April 28) that anyone associated with Harvard could or would take any smug, jealous satisfaction in the downfall of Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan caused by her apparent plagiarism in her recently released “chick-lit” novel “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life.”

Nor is there any xenophobia at work here. Anyone associated with Harvard must be appalled that Harvard’s name came to be associated first with an insubstantial work of chick-literature.

Although I am not a Harvard College graduate, I was the student chief justice at Wellesley College many years ago and presided over many plagiarism cases. Intellectual integrity cannot be compromised at an academic institution. Kaavya has dealt Harvard’s reputation a blow by associating the Harvard name (no doubt part of the marketing strategy) first with chick-literature and then with plagiarism—all for a quick $500,000 advance.



MARTHA M. RE

Metairie, La.

April 28, 2006