I am writing to add my voice to the chorus of community members who are appalled by the treatment of Evelyn Harris by Smith College. I have known Evelyn as a fellow musician, mentor and a dear friend for over 10 years. Evelyn’s many exceptional gifts are well known. But what is even more remarkable than her amazing gifts is how she has shared them with us for decades, and for very little material reward. To publicly brand this incredibly talented and generous member of our community with the academic conceit of “plagiarism” is both ridiculous and shameful.

When a new student arrives, does Smith assume they already know about its so-called honor code? Or does it make each student aware of this code, the consequences for violating it and the accepted methods of attribution? Smith assumed that a non-academic, being honored for her non-academic contributions to this community and beyond would know that this criterion would be applied to a commencement speech, itself a non-academic expression. Smith had possession of the speech two weeks prior to commencement but did not check it for something it supposedly holds sacred, applied it’s self-righteous standard after the fact and then claimed it must do so to uphold its integrity. Please. This is the height of hypocrisy. Smith College owes Evelyn Harris an apology and an honorary degree. It’s the right thing to do.

William Blatner

Florence