Despite the recent controversies concerning plagiarism, those listening to Doris Kearns Goodwin speak were not upset that she omitted the topic entirely from her speech.
Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian spoke as part of the Fox Leadership Program last night at Irvine Auditorium.
Plagiarism has been a hot topic of late on campus, but while most of the concern has focused on Stephen Ambrose's reported plagiarism of History Professor Thomas Childers' book Wings of Morning, Goodwin herself has been recently brought under fire in similar circumstances.
Goodwin was recently accused of plagiarism for her 1987 work The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys. She denies she plagiarized, saying it was merely an issue of mismanagement of longhand notes.
Goodwin did not speak of the accusations at all, choosing to focus on the noted leaders she has encountered during her life, both as a journalist and historian.
Most Penn students, however, saw no problem with the omission at last night's lecture.
"She was a fabulous speaker -- she's a highly articulate woman," said College junior Laura Cohen, who is also a member of the Fox council.
Plagiarism "really wasn't relevant. It has nothing to do with the issue. We are extremely lucky to have been able to get her to speak with us," Cohen added.
Goodwin ended the night with a question-and-answer session, during which no member of the audience brought up the accusations.
Engineering senior Michael Lorberbaum, who attended the speech, said that it was not an issue that concerned him.
"She came to speak on leadership. That's why I was at the lecture," Lorberbaum said. "If [plagiarism] was important to a student, they should have brought it up -- it certainly wasn't her job."
Anne Koshalek, a graduate student in the School of Fine Arts, said she was pleased that no student brought up the topic.
"I'm actually really glad that nobody brought up the plagiarism issue," Koshalek said. "She was invited here; it would have been really tacky of someone to bring up the accusations she's facing."
Koshalek said that it was Goodwin's prerogative to omit the claims and was not a reflection of her attitude towards the accusations.
"She's entitled to say and not say what she wants," Koshalek said. "You have to leave her that choice."
Becky Bradley, also a Fine Arts graduate student, thought Goodwin rightfully spoke about her intended topic.
"She was brought here in a leadership role; she was here to talk about her experiences with leaders," Bradley said. "It would have been inappropriate to mention plagiarism."
However, while students found the omission acceptable, not every student was entirely pleased with the speech as a whole.
"I went to hear her speak on leadership," Loberbaum said. "I don't think she really addressed leadership itself, however.
"It seemed like she sort of sidestepped the issue, talking more about her experiences with leaders than leadership itself. Most of her talk just alluded to leadership in the context.
"I was disappointed."
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