Guttenberg cancels IBC talk after facing scrutiny
By Sean Connolly
Published on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Disgraced former German Minister of Defense Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg canceled his scheduled lecture in Haldemann after a flurry of criticism from students and faculty over the weekend. Guttenberg, who was invited to speak at an event hosted by the International Business Council, cited personal reasons in a written statement to the student group.
Guttenberg became a controversial figure in the German political arena after reports surfaced in last spring that he had plagiarized a substantial portion of his doctoral thesis, The Guardian reported.
The IBC invited Guttenberg to “learn more about his perspective on trans-Atlantic economic and security ties,” the organization said in a email to The Dartmouth.
Guttenberg’s invitation provoked outrage among students and faculty, and an online petition protesting the event circulated among the College community over the weekend.
The petition, which was iniated by German studies professor Veronika Fuechtner, collected over 100 signatures in three days.
The petition notes that Guttenberg has denied wrongdoing and continually downplays his actions as a mistake.
“I was very shocked by this,” Fuechtner said. “The fact that he did not apologize...I was pretty upset.”
Students and faculty members from the history and German studies departments collaborated to coordinate the protest. A letter to the IBC and a walk-out during Guttenberg’s lecture were suggested, according to Danielle Smith ’15, a student in Fuechtner’s class.
Before issuing the petition, the protest group contacted the IBC’s leadership to persuade them to reconsider their invitation but the attempts were unsuccessful, Fuechtner said.
History professor Udi Greenberg, who signed the petition, was pleased that Guttenberg decided not to come to the College.
“In our point of view, it’s a very cynical exploitation of student interests,” Greenberg said. “In general, if you believe in integrity, this should bother you.”
Manfred Pfister, a former visiting professor, said on the petition’s website that “[Guttenberg’s] comportment as an academic is a scandal and so were his subsequent attempts to cover up and mitigate his misdemeanor.”
This is not the first instance that Guttenberg has encountered public criticism at an academic institution.
Last fall, 15 Yale University graduate students walked out of his lecture, according to the Yale Daily News. Guttenberg addressed the plagiarism incident immediately following the walk out.
“Academically, I’m ashamed of what I did, but I also decided, in coming over here, that I am now obliged to give something back to a community which I treated not in the right way,” he said at Yale’s event.
Greenberg said that the petition did not challenge freedom of speech rights.
“No one debates his right to express his views,” he said. “Academic institutions are just not the place.”
Fuechtner said that a person who has committed such blatant acts of academic honesty does not belong in an academic setting like Dartmouth.
“You wouldn’t invite Lance Armstrong to give a talk at a sports academy,” she said.
Fuechtner started the petition after Smith casually mentioned the event. Smith recognized Guttenberg’s name because she was living in Germany at the time of the scandal, she said.
“This is a person who lied into his position,” she said. “It sheds a bad light on Dartmouth.”
Before these allegations surfaced, Guttenberg was a popular figure in Germany and won the title of “Germany’s most popular politician” in a 2009 poll in the German tabloid Bild.
In February 2011, reports began circulating in Germany that his 2007 thesis was almost entirely plagiarized.
A commission at the University of Bayreuth confirmed the rumors after discovering substantial fraud.
Within two weeks, Guttenberg was stripped of his doctorate and resigned as defense minister, The Guardian reported.
IBC director Alex Matthey ‘14 declined requests for comment.
I’m disappointed in the professors who initiated and signed a petition to keep someone from speaking at the College. It IS an academic freedom issue. People were interested from hearing Guttenberg’s views. We know this because Guttenberg got the invitation to speak.
A student group asking someone to speak on campus is not the same as the College handing out an honorary degree. It does not grant someone the imprimatur of the College or say that they are approved of by the College. It is a chance to learn from someone. What might students have been able to learn from Guttenberg? Well, an object lesson in what happens when you plagiarize, for one, and that sounds like a pretty useful lesson to have!
Dartmouth has had all sorts of controversial speakers over the years. Al Sharpton, with his Crown Heights baggage, was probably not a favorite of Hillel or the Jewish Studies department, but he wasn’t disinvited. Ehud Barak was probably not the favorite of Al-Nur or the Islamic Studies professors, but he wasn’t disinvited. It was certainly controversial when “Jihad Watch” Director (and author of two NYT bestsellers) Robert Spencer spoke at Dartmouth. He was introduced by a professor.
What makes Dartmouth the place for someone who conflates Islam with terror to speak, or someone who, at the time he spoke at Dartmouth, had not apologized for his role at starting the biggest pogrom against Jews in the United States, but not someone who committed an act of academic dishonesty, was caught, has admitted and apologized for it, and is in no way using the College to bolster his credentials.
Part of academic freedom is having people on campus you disagree with speaking. It’s fine to protest. Stand outside with signs shouting at the top of your lungs. But it’s a sad day when professors conspire to keep someone from giving a talk on our campus.
By Anon on Jan 22 | 8:20 am
Martin Luther King plagiarized his dissertation as well (look it up), but the college had no problem honoring him.
By Anonymous on Jan 22 | 8:44 am
Did anyone complain when Joe Biden, who was suspended from law school for plagiarizing spoke? The double standard here is clear.
By ??? on Jan 22 | 11:19 am
Well done! He is a politican, no scientist (and a bad politican, too)
By Tim from Berlin on Jan 22 | 12:10 pm
To the comment on Jan 22, 8:20 am:
It’s a difference if the speaker is controversial because of his opinions or if the speaker cheated in his dissertation and thereby harmed the science.
The petition was about his cheating and not about his opinions.
By Ben / from Germany on Jan 22 | 12:22 pm
I congratulate the students of Dartmouth College. Well done!
By Joachim Morlinghaus on Jan 22 | 12:26 pm
Ms Smith shows that she has not much knowledge about the events in Germany – Guttenberg was chosen for his position because he was a popular politician and not for his doctoral thesis.
That he “lied into his position” is a lie from Ms Smith and it is defamatory – should Ms Smith now be banned from Darthmouth?
Greetings from Germany
By Anonymous on Jan 22 | 1:02 pm
Congratulations to The Dartmouth for not letting a fraudster speak to the students. Von Guttenberg (the “Von” relates to his “nobility” gained by the extortion of maut from travelers some time back). The multi millionaire by inheritance, who used his connections and ties to start a political career in Germany, has never done anything good to the German Society either as a politician, or as an individual. The German society is deeply disappointed about his behaving, and the picture he created as a representative of the German government. Today Guttenberg is a" commissary for “Internet relations” at the EU, a position also gained by having the right connections, not by knowledge.
Bremen, Germany 22.1.13
By Walter Breymann on Jan 22 | 1:02 pm
I just wanted you to know that your attitude towards this academic crook Guttenberg is deeply appreciated in large parts of the population of Germany. We only wish there were more universities like Dartmouth. Congratulations! Rolf
By Rolf on Jan 22 | 1:05 pm
beware of this man. he is dangerous.
By A. German on Jan 22 | 1:18 pm
take him. and keep him! we don’t want him back.
best, Felix
Cologne, Germany
By feilx on Jan 22 | 2:30 pm
As a biophysics victim of Germany’s uncontrolled and plagiators supporting academic structure, I am more than happy to see the success in fighting at least some unimportant plagiators like Ex-Dr. von und zu Guttenberg – I was one of the first thousand scientists on a similar attempt to get him out of his title – my congratulations to all those involved in making this happen! I wish Germany, and especially Bavaria, would not support plagiators, especially if they never achieved anything, but being a son… Unfortunately, things in Germany get worse and worse in academia. Congratulations, again, to Dartmouth.
By Dr. Robert Eibl, plagiarism victim of Bavaria on Jan 22 | 3:08 pm
Nearly all faculties of law in Germany have a severe problem with plagiarism. Please read Guttenberg’s thesis! Even if it would not be a product of plagiarism, it is bullshit. Guttenburg’s doctoral thesis supervisor, Peter Häberle, definitely knew that when he was fighting the people that published the material, that was shamelessly stolen by Guttenberg. In faculties like “Buyreuth” you just have pay to get an academic title.
By Robin of Loxley on Jan 22 | 3:20 pm
Thank you
We have many more people like Guttenberg to export from Germany: Annette Schavan, Peter Häberle, Veronica Saß (daughter of Edmund Stoiber), Dominic Stoiber (son of Edmund Stoiber).
All of these are either (relatives of) people sitting in the German parliamant or professors.
By Bernd from Germany on Jan 22 | 3:39 pm
People like Guttenberg and Annette Schavan are only the tip of the iceberg in Germany. All large political parties support this kind of corruption.
Science has a very difficult standing against the Scientific Mafia established in parties like CSU and CDU. Both parties are blocking the ratification of the “United Nations Convention against Corruption” by Germany. The political and (misused) legal pressure on science in Germany is tremendous.
Help from external people is highly welcome!
Thank you all!
By Anonymous on Jan 22 | 4:52 pm
I congratulate the university to their decision to cancel the event. America should teach the Germans, that plagiarists like Mr. Guttenberg are not welcomed at a reputable scientific institution. It has apparently been way too easy in the past to earn a PhD in Germany. And if you are from one of the 27 member countries of the European Union, you have the right to have your titles recognized in any of the other countries, no matter how questionable the academic system in the awarding country might be. But when you earn your degree at an accredited academic institution in the USA and published more than a handful of publications in reputable scientific journals, you have to endure a costly and lengthy recognition procedure with unclear outcome, if you want to use an American degree over here.
By Rainer from Germany on Jan 22 | 5:01 pm
Good action that you have initiated. KTG has lied to the end and never uttered a word of regret. Too bad. He has disqualified himself for ever.
Best regards from Germany HJR, LTC red
By HaJo on Jan 23 | 6:00 am
Well done, Darthmouth. Von Guttenberg tries to rebuild up his reputation the way he is used to: using his network to cheat into honorable institutions to collect bonus points for his ego. As you most certainly will read this thread, Mr. Guttenberg: if you really want to give something back to academia, you should start in an humble and mundane way: doing reasearch, writing papers and get them published in refereed magazines. Repeat this a dozen times and come back with a list of publications.
By Juergen from Germany on Jan 23 | 7:06 am
Poor attitude, Mrs. Veronika Fuechtner. Don’t boycott people! Don’t hunt them in the internet. For how many years should he now burn in hell? From a professor I would expect that he/she can communicate with Mr. Guttenberg instead of condemning him, ignoring him and put him in the stocks. What an inhuman behaviour.
By Rike from Germany on Jan 23 | 7:46 am
There are liars and plagiarists all over Dartmouth College. Joe Biden and Martin Luther King, Jr. were also plagiarists as an earlier commenter wrote. Academia is full of charlatans, especially these days.
By Anon on Jan 23 | 5:32 pm