[Discussion] U. of California Poet Who Lied on Résumé Resigns Faculty

[Paksoy, Hb]

U. of California Poet Who Lied on Résumé Resigns Faculty

CHE
Thursday, December 5, 2002

   U. of California Poet Who Lied on Résumé Resigns Faculty Position
A poet and professor at the University of California at San Diego who
admitted that he did not have the college degree he listed on his résumé has
resigned his faculty position. 

Quincy Troupe, who was also California's first poet laureate and gave up
that title last month for the same reason, did not graduate from Grambling
College (now Grambling State University) as he stated on his résumé. A state
senate committee's routine background check discovered the discrepancy. 

Since Mr. Troupe, 63, admitted the lie, the university had been reviewing
its options under the faculty code of conduct. His resignation as a
professor of literature and creative writing brings that to a close. 

"I very much regret my lapse in judgment and the problems it has created for
my department and the broader UCSD community," Mr. Troupe wrote in his
letter of resignation. He did not immediately respond to telephone or e-mail
messages from The Chronicle. 

Robert C. Dynes, the university's chancellor, said he agreed with Mr.
Troupe's decision, which "reflects our shared view that teachers are role
models who must uphold the intellectual honesty we cherish as a community of
scholars." 

Mr. Troupe's resignation will take effect at the beginning of July, which is
the end of the university's academic year.