University president resigns after plagiarising part of speech

CNN 15 May 2021

The University of South Carolina in the United States accepted the resignation on 12 May of President Bob Caslen, who admitted he plagiarised part of a speech by the former head of US Special Operations Command during a weekend commencement speech, writes Amanda Jackson for CNN.

In a letter on Monday, Caslen said he was “truly sorry” for having shared a well-known quote by Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw the successful raid that killed Osama bin Laden. “I was searching for words about resilience in adversity and when they were transcribed into the speech, I failed to ensure its attribution. I take full responsibility for this oversight,” he wrote.

Caslen’s advice to the class of 2021 mimicked a famous speech by McRaven to the graduates at University of Texas in 2014. Caslen’s speech was nearly identical to McRaven’s, yet he was not given credit. That wasn’t the only blunder made during the ceremony. At one point Caslen congratulated the graduates of the University of California, instead of South Carolina. He tried to recover over the audible gasps from the crowd and said, “Sorry about that, I owe you push ups.”
Full report on the CNN site

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