Memorial Church at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
The assistant professor who taught the class at the center of Harvard’s biggest cheating scandal has been kicked off the tenure track, the Harvard Crimson reports.
Dr. Matthew Platt, who taught the “Introduction to Congress” class at the center of the 2012 scandal, has not been promoted from assistant professor to associate professor after a tenure-track review. Almost half of the 279 students in his class were investigated by the Administrative Board for cheating on the take-home final, and 70 students were forced to temporarily withdraw from the University, including many athletes. Many students said that the rules about the take-home final were unclear, since some teaching fellows had been encouraging them to work together.
Platt’s class had a reputation for being relatively easy, which may have suggested to some students, especially athletes, that his course was an easy A. Students reported that Platt even said on the first day of “Introduction to Congress” that the course would not be difficult.
Platt did not teach any courses during the cheating investigation, but this spring taught a small seminar which enrolled only three students.
Platt’s academic research focuses on the role of race in politics. He is working on a book about black congressmen since Reconstruction.