After admitting that he lied on his resume about earning a college degree, UCSD literature professor Quincy Troupe resigned as state poet laureate nominee. Though Chancellor Robert C. Dynes will decide Troupe’s punishment, if there is one, no verdict has been announced yet.
Although Troupe doesn’t have a college degree, the Guardian feels that this should have no bearing on his eligibility or qualifications for the position of California’s poet laureate. The only factor that should be considered when choosing a poet laureate is the quality of the nominee’s writing, not his or her education. Troupe remains just as qualified for the position as he was before the discrepancy on his resume was discovered, because his poetry remains just as laudable.
However, there is no doubt that the university must punish Troupe for lying on his resume. The University of California has strict honor codes that apply to both students and staff. When a student is discovered to have falsified information on an application or lied about whether academic work is his or her own, the penalties are swift and severe. It would be an appalling double standard if Troupe were not subject to the same treatment. Furthermore, it would imply that once students enter the workforce, lying is an acceptable practice.
Because Troupe has already proven himself a gifted and dedicated professor, firing him would punish both him and the students who enjoy his classes and teaching style. Just as students being reprimanded for the same crime would likely not be expelled, Troupe should not necessarily be fired. However, it would be appropriate to modify his standing at the university by downgrading him from a professorship to an associate professorship, with resultant consequences to pay and tenure.
The Guardian would find it reprehensible if Troupe were not disciplined for lying on his resume. However, the fact that he did so, and the fact that he does not have a college degree, should in no way have affected his poet laureate nomination, since his poetic accomplishments and not his education render him deserving of that position.