Central Connecticut State University President Retires Amid Criticism Over Plagiarism

AP ^ | Mar. 19, 2004

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Central Connecticut State University President Retires Amid Criticism Over Plagiarism

Mar 19, 2004

The Associated Press

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) - The president of Central Connecticut State University retired Friday amid criticism that he plagiarized an opinion piece published in The Hartford Courant. Richard Judd, 66, who fainted in his office Wednesday afternoon and was hospitalized overnight, cited health concerns for his decision to retire.

"I am doing so after careful consideration of my personal responsibilities and of my family and in regard to my health," he wrote in a letter to the chairman of the school's Board of Trustees.

The announcement came four days after CSU Chancellor William Cibes concluded that Judd had plagiarized from three sources a Feb. 26 op-ed piece about the prospects for peace in Cyprus.

Judd apologized this week to the CCSU Faculty Senate, which recommended he keep his job.

He had been scheduled to meet with the Board of Trustees on Friday to discuss the plagiarism allegation, but that meeting was postponed because of Judd's health.

On Friday, Cibes praised Judd for his dedication to CCSU.

"It's clear that President Judd cares very deeply for his university," Cibes said in a written statement. "His commitment to Central may never be matched again."

Cibes' investigation, obtained by The Associated Press, found that Judd lifted unattributed, verbatim phrases from a New York Times editorial, from a Web site of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and from an article in a London newspaper, The Independent on Sunday.

Judd has said the article grew out of a discussion paper he presented to a social group, and was based on notes he'd taken from journal articles, Web sites, personal discussions and newspapers.