An instructor at Texas A & M International University, Loye Young, delivered on his warning to students that he enforces plagiarism rules by publicly humiliating offenders. Upon discovering six such culprits in his class, he wrote about it on his course blog. Administrators put the failing grades on hold by referring them for review to an honors council — but summarily fired Young.

The fallout continues, according to Inside Higher Ed:

Several faculty members, speaking privately because they didn’t want to anger administrators, said that they were taken aback by the way the university appeared to be viewing plagiarism as an issue requiring more due process for students, not more support for professors. For the university to follow the dismissal of an adjunct with this reminder, they said, left them feeling that they couldn’t bring plagiarism charges. Further, many said that they believed it was a professor’s right to award an F to a plagiarizer and that this should not require an honors council review …
[others say] the university is looking the other way and sending a public message to students that they are the victims when a professor takes plagiarism seriously.

Young is outspoken in his defense: “If students don’t know that they will be prosecuted, this will not stop. You need to have a deterrent, and it needs to be public.” And, in words that could apply to much of what’s transpiring in academe, “This beehive needed whacking.”