The Fact of the Matter

I publish this begrudgingly, believing that the issues that I am pressed to discuss here are not worth my dignifying them with a response. When attacked on baseless grounds on multiple occasions, however, I believe that it is necessary that I take a firm stance to ensure that the truth--not just what has been twisted, filtered and spit out--is aired. And because this blog is meant to be a platform for my personal, not professional, musings, I will keep this short.

In his "Is Travis Kaya Up to His Old Habits of Plagiarizing the CI?," Charles Johnson of The Claremont Conservative and The Claremont Independent recently leveled some pretty hefty accusations against me regarding an article I authored for The Student Life newspaper. Published Feb. 27, the article discusses Claremont McKenna's withdrawal from the QuestBridge scholarship program, which was covered by the CI on Feb. 14. Johnson, who wrote the CI piece, says that I plagiarized the article, which is categorically false and reveals, ironically, a lack of investigation on the part of the blogger himself.

Firstly, all quotes and figures in the article were the product of my own reporting. I was in personal contact with CMC Dean of Admissions Richard Vos. All quotes from Dean Vos come from my correspondence with Dean Vos.

Secondly, The Student Life explicitly credits The Claremont Independent for the reporting that it did in its Feb. 14 piece, saying that the issue was first brought to light in that publication. It is true that my editors at The Student Life assigned me the story after learning about it in the CI, and it was duly noted. It was relevant news that TSL believed warranted coverage in its pages, albeit from a larger Pomona and 5C perspective.

Thirdly, it is obvious when comparing the CI and TSL pieces that there are a number of departure points between Johnson's reporting and my own. TSL attempted to tackle the issue from a perspective outside of the confines of CMC where Johnson centered his analysis. I include commentary from Pomona College administrators and students, where the CI piece does not. I include pertinent budget information gleaned from Trevor Hunnicutt's reporting on CMC finances, where the CI piece does not. Just as the CI provides information that TSL did not include because it did not seem immediately relevant to our readership.

Please, Mr. Johnson, descend from your high horse to take a closer look at my work before you make hasty and possibly damaging judgments. Plagiarism is not something that I take lightly, and I do not appreciate baseless accusations of plagiarism being leveled against me on such a public platform. Perhaps next time you should do a bit more investigating of your own, Charles.