Mass. commencement speaker plagiarized speech, college says

A commencement speaker at Smith College relinquished her honorary degree after the college discovered that sections of her speech were plagiarized, the college’s president announced Tuesday.

Musician Evelyn Harris, who received an honorary degree from the school and spoke at Smith’s 147th commencement ceremony Sunday, borrowed much of her speech from other commencement speeches, President Sarah Willie-LeBreton wrote in a letter.

Willie-LeBreton shared that Harris had borrowed the words of others “without the attribution typical of and central to the ideals of academic integrity.” Harris later admitted that she plagiarized the speech, though she contended that she “sought to infuse the words of others with her own emotional valence,” according to the letter.

Harris gave back her honorary degree, a decision which Willie-LeBreton accepted. The college is now working on a new version of the commencement ceremony highlights, which will be published on its website at a later date, Willie-LeBreton wrote.

“I appreciate those who brought the dissonance of this moment to our attention and am very grateful for the graciousness of Evelyn Harris’s decision,” Willie-LeBreton wrote.

Harris is a vocal teacher, a former member of the a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, and a global performer with a decades-long career, according to the college’s website.

Harris’ fellow honorary degree recipients were Danielle Allen, a professor of political philosophy, public policy, and ethics at Harvard University; Rachel Levine, the 17th assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Preeti Simran Sethi, an Emmy-award winning writer, academic, and mental health coach.

College officials did not immediately respond to a request to comment further Tuesday evening.