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Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Princeton Student Newspaper Accuses Pete Hegseth of Plagiarism
The newspaper for the alma mater of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth published a report on Saturday suggesting that Hegseth plagiarized elements of his senior thesis. The report in The Daily Princetonian alleges that Hegseth's senior thesis, submitted in 2003, contained eight instances of 'uncredited material, sham paraphrasing, and verbatim copying,' according to a review conducted by three plagiarism experts. One example was taken from an article in The Washington Post published shortly after 9/11. In Hegseth's thesis, he wrote, 'After Card's whisper, Bush looked distracted and somber but continued to listen to the second-graders, joking that they 'read like sixth-graders.'' The article in the Post reads, 'After Card's whisper, Bush looked distracted and somber but continued to listen to the second-graders read and soon was smiling again. He joked that they read so well, they must be sixth-graders.' Hegseth does not cite the article in his paper. While the experts consulted found that the instances of plagiarism in Hegseth's thesis violated Princeton's academic honesty regulations, their opinions on whether the violations were serious enough to matter differed. James M. Lang, author of Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty, called it a 'borderline case,' telling the Princetonian, 'There's no silver bullet here; there's no smoking gun in terms of a deep example of plagiarism.' Lang felt that there was more 'gray than black and white' in this case, with roughly half of the examples constituting serious plagiarism and the other half only being minor violations. One example that Lang felt was egregious was a passage similar to one seen in a book about President John F. Kennedy, while Jonathan Bailey, who runs the website Plagiarism Today, did not feel that example was a serious violation. While Lang felt that an example that involved similarities of 10 or 12 words raised red flags, Bailey disagreed, telling the paper, 'Even the ones that were more direct still typically only involve a sentence or two at a time.' The paper ran Hegseth's thesis through multiple plagiarism detection models that flagged 12 passages throughout the paper. Of those 12 passages, the plagiarism experts they consulted found that only eight were serious, with the other four not significant enough to warrant concern on their own, though they did say it 'fit a broader pattern of some form of plagiarism.' Hegseth's thesis was titled 'Modern Presidential Rhetoric and the Cold War Context'. In it, he analyzed the evolution of presidential speeches from the mid-20th century to the early 2000s and argued that modern presidential rhetoric is primarily influenced by prevailing global threats. As The Daily Princetonian explains, the senior thesis 'represents the capstone of the Princeton undergraduate experience and is a graduation requirement for almost all students.' Hegseth graduated from Princeton in 2003.
Time of India
27-04-2025
- Time of India
Who was Lauren Blackburn? Missing Princeton student found dead beside lake after week-long search
Princeton University junior Lauren Blackburn , who had been missing for nearly a week, was found dead on Friday morning (local time) at Lake Carnegie , near the New Jersey campus, Princeton's Department of Public Safety confirmed. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'I am deeply saddened to share with you that the body of Lauren Blackburn '26 was found at Lake Carnegie this morning. Our hearts are heavy and we share our deepest condolences with Lauren's family and friends,' Dean of Undergraduate Students Regan Crotty wrote in a letter to the school community. The cause of death has not yet been released. Blackburn, 23, was last seen near Firestone Library at around 6 pm on April 19, according to the university. His phone was later pinged near the man-made lake, prompting authorities to begin a water search on the night of April 21. Lake Carnegie, a 263-acre reservoir donated by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie at a cost equivalent to about $9.5 million today, sits just south of campus near Princeton's athletic complex, about a mile from the library where Blackburn was last seen. According to the Daily Princetonian, Blackburn had been a former features writer for the student newspaper and recently won the 2024 Sam Hutton Fund for the Arts, an award supporting summer study, travel, and independent research through the Lewis Center for the Arts. Originally from Corydon, Indiana, Blackburn graduated from Corydon Central High School. As a high school senior in 2019, he received both a National Merit Scholarship and a Gates Scholarship, making headlines locally. Teachers described him as a student with an extraordinary memory and a kind personality. 'He can read a book and know everything in it,' English teacher Kate Robinson told WAVE then. Science teacher Karen York added, 'I have never, ever once heard him ever speak a bad word.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Blackburn's death marks the seventh undergraduate death at Princeton since 2021, with the Daily Princetonian noting that all previous six deaths were ruled suicides. reported that the Department of Public Safety led the search with support from regional law enforcement agencies, and authorities had earlier warned the campus community of an increased police presence during the search. NBC News, citing a prior interview, also shared footage from Blackburn's high school days, highlighting his full scholarship to Princeton and the praise he received from his teachers. Authorities have not provided further details, and has reached out to officials for additional comment.
New York Post
26-04-2025
- New York Post
Missing Princeton student Lauren Blackburn found dead at lake near campus — week after vanishing
The body of a missing Princeton junior was recovered from a lake that borders the New Jersey campus, ending a nearly week-long search for the student. Lauren Blackburn, 23, was found in Lake Carnegie on Friday morning, according to Princeton's Department of Safety. A cause of death was not immediately revealed. 'I am deeply saddened to share with you that the body of Lauren Blackburn '26 was found at Lake Carnegie this morning. Our hearts are heavy and we share our deepest condolences with Lauren's family and friends,' Dean of Undergraduate Students Regan Crotty wrote in a letter to the school. Advertisement 5 Princeton junior Lauren Blackburn was found in a lake near campus Friday. Facebook / Lauren Blackburn Blackburn, who was majoring in English, was last seen near the college's Firestone Library at around 6 p.m. on April 19 before he vanished, the school said. School officials reported Blackburn as missing on Tuesday through a campus alert. Advertisement Officials pinged his phone in the area of the man-made reservoir around midnight Tuesday, prompting a water search to begin. Lake Carnegie sits just south of campus — near the university's athletic complex — but about a mile from the library where Blackburn was last seen. The lake was a gift from steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie for a cost of $450,000, which is approximately $9.5 million today, the school said. The reservoir sits on 263 acres with a uniform depth of nine feet at a 35-foot distance from the shoreline. Advertisement 5 Officials began searching Lake Carnegie after his phone was pinged in the area on April 22, 2025. NBC Philadelphia. 5 Blackburn was last seen wearing blue jeans with torn knees, a yellow shirt with a black zippered hooded sweatshirt and blue, flat-bottom shoes. Instagram / @princeton A former features writer for the Daily Princetonian, the student newspaper, Blackburn was the most recent winner of the 2024 Sam Hutton Fund for the Arts. The award is given to one student in the Lewis Center for the Arts 'to support undergraduate summer study, travel, and independent research.' Advertisement Before attending Princeton, Blackburn graduated from Corydon Central High School in southern Indiana. 5 A former features writer for the Daily Princetonian, the student newspaper, Blackburn was the most recent winner of the 2024 Sam Hutton Fund for the Arts. Facebook / Corydon Central High School He made local headlines in 2019 as a high school senior when he was awarded a National Merit Scholarship and Gates Scholarship. Teachers praised the then-teenager as a kind student with an excellent memory. 'He can read a book and know everything in it,' English teacher Kate Robinson told WAVE at the time. 'I'm pretty sure he has a photographic memory.' 5 Before attending Princeton, Blackburn graduated from Corydon Central High School in southern Indiana. Instagram / @princeton 'He's kind,' science teacher Karen York added. 'I have never, ever once heard him ever speak a bad word.' Blackburn's death marks the sixth of an undergraduate at the school since 2021, with all five previously being ruled as suicides, the Daily Princetonian noted. Advertisement Junior sociology major Misrach Ewunetie was found dead near the school's tennis courts in October 2022 after being reported missing six days earlier. An autopsy confirmed Ewunetie died from 'bupropion, escitalopram and hydroxyzine toxicity,' the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office announced.
