Article
Former poet laureate Troupe quits university job over cv controversy
January 18, 2006
UCSD Chancellor Robert Dynes declared: "His decision reflects our shared view that teachers are role models who must uphold the intellectual honesty we cherish as a community of scholars."
The author of 13 books and an important figure on the American poetry scene, Troupe has held his professorship at UCSD for 12 years, and is extremely popular with students. His response to the scandal has often been contrasted with that of New Jersey poet laureate Amiri Baraka, who evoked outrage last September after a public reading of his poem Somebody Blew Up America. The poem contains the lines
Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed
Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers
To stay at home that day
Why did Sharon stay away?
In spite of accusations of antisemitism, Baraka stood by his text and refused to resign. Subsequently, the New Jersey government has frozen his poet laureate stipend of $ 10,000 and is now trying to introduce legislature that will allow the state to fire Baraka as poet laureate.
American poet Quincy Troupe last Tuesday announced he will resign as professor at the University of California, San Diego, over the cv discrepancies that also cost him his position as California’s first official poet laureate.
Troupe, who was appointed poet laureate last June, resigned from the post in October, after a routine Senate check revealed that he lied on his cv about graduating from Louisiana's Grambling State University, writes the San Francisco Chronicle. He has now decided to give up his position as tenured professor of American and Caribbean literature and creative writing at UCSD as well. "I very much regret my lapse in judgment and the problems it has created for my department and the broader UCSD community," Troupe wrote in his resignation letter. Troupe will continue teaching until the end of the academic year.UCSD Chancellor Robert Dynes declared: "His decision reflects our shared view that teachers are role models who must uphold the intellectual honesty we cherish as a community of scholars."
The author of 13 books and an important figure on the American poetry scene, Troupe has held his professorship at UCSD for 12 years, and is extremely popular with students. His response to the scandal has often been contrasted with that of New Jersey poet laureate Amiri Baraka, who evoked outrage last September after a public reading of his poem Somebody Blew Up America. The poem contains the lines
Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed
Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers
To stay at home that day
Why did Sharon stay away?
In spite of accusations of antisemitism, Baraka stood by his text and refused to resign. Subsequently, the New Jersey government has frozen his poet laureate stipend of $ 10,000 and is now trying to introduce legislature that will allow the state to fire Baraka as poet laureate.
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