Columbia medical center DEI head plagiarized Ph.D. dissertation, complaint alleges
The leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officer at Columbia University's medical center has recently been accused of plagiarizing nearly a fifth of his Ph.D. dissertation.
The Washington Free Beacon shared a side-by-side comparison of excerpts from Alade McKen’s doctoral dissertation that closely resemble the work of other authors and Wikipedia.
The leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officer at a major New York City medical center has recently been accused of plagiarizing nearly a fifth of his Ph.D. dissertation.
Citing a recently submitted anonymous complaint, The Washington Free Beacon on Feb. 29 wrote that Alade McKen “plagiarized extensively in his doctoral dissertation, lifting entire pages of material, without attribution, from sources that include Wikipedia.”
The Free Beacon shared a side-by-side comparison of excerpts from McKen’s Iowa State University doctoral dissertation that closely resemble the work of other authors and Wikipedia.
[RELATED: Harvard president Claudine Gay faces six additional plagiarism allegations]
“A complaint filed with Columbia yesterday implicates approximately a fifth of McKen’s 163-page dissertation,” Free Beacon reporter Aaron Sibarium posted to X the same day as the article’s publication. “Over two of those pages are a near-verbatim facsimile of Wikipedia’s entry on ‘Afrocentric education,’ which McKen never cites.”
A complaint filed with Columbia yesterday implicates approximately a fifth of McKen’s 163-page dissertation. Over two of those pages are a near-verbatim facsimile of Wikipedia’s entry on “Afrocentric education,” which McKen never cites.https://t.co/fSWrRwbhnB pic.twitter.com/jWGP8Oz3jg
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) February 29, 2024
McKen’s dissertation, entitled, “‘UBUNTU’ I am because we are: A case study examining the experiences of an African-centered Rites of Passage program within a community-based organization,” was written for a Ph.D. program on education, social, and cultural studies at Iowa State in 2021.
The complaint accuses McKen of plagiarizing more than 30 authors for his dissertation, with some listed in a bibliography but none apparently included for in-text citations.
One of the scholars that McKen allegedly plagiarized from, Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu, told the Free Beacon that she found the evidence supporting the allegations to be convincing.
“The passages you shared can definitely be classified as plagiarism,” she told the outlet.
McKen assumed the role of Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Columbia’s Irving Medical Center in September 2023, and oversees the implementation of DEI programs and supports DEI “best practices.”
McKen has worked for almost two decades in “multicultural affairs” and “social justice initiatives,” according to Columbia’s website.
As of publication of this article, McKen is still listed on the Columbia medical center website as its Chief Diversity Officer.
McKen is the latest Ivy League official to be accused of plagiarism in recent times, joining Harvard’s Shirley Greene, Sherri Charleston, most notably, Claudine Gay.
Campus Reform has contacted Columbia University, Iowa State University, and Alade McKen for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
