The Cabinet of The Bahamas has a significant decision to make regarding future leadership of The College of The Bahamas, which intends to become a university in 2015.
In deciding whether to accept a recommendation to reappoint former embattled COB President Dr. Rodney Smith, the Cabinet will have to take into consideration complex issues stemming from a plagiarism scandal that ensnared Smith in 2005.
It is stunning to us and some other people that Smith is even being considered for the role, as it is unlikely that he would ever be able to shake the stigma associated with plagiarism.
That cannot be good for the future University of The Bahamas.
This, of course, does not subtract from his competence and qualifications as an academic or the leadership he displayed during his first stint as president.
This matter is less about second chances and more about guarding the integrity of the college and its academic policies.
In the world of academics, plagiarism is a cardinal sin.
Nine years after Smith's resignation, the issue is still front and center in discussions relating to him and considerations on whether he should be reappointed.
National Review confirmed weeks ago that the Presidential Advisory Search Committee recommended to Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald that Smith be reappointed president.
Smith has widespread support in the college community and it is recognized - even by those who supported getting rid of him in 2005 - that he had been effective in the role of president.
But Smith's reappointment could negatively impact the ability of COB professors to enforce its student policy against plagiarism.
Further, the next president of COB will lead the institution during one of the most defining periods of its history.
He or she will be the voice of the university in the local and international academic arenas. That person must inspire trust and respect, and must advance the credibility of the University of The Bahamas.
While Smith's ability has never been called into question and his academic credentials are impressive, the fact that he is associated with the most egregious error in academia will haunt both him and the institution if he is reappointed.
Separation
Though a lot of time has passed since the plagiarism debacle, the facts are unchanged.
In May 2005, Smith spoke at the college's Honours Convocation.
He used a portion of a speech given by New York University President Dr. John Sexton without providing attribution.
At the time, Franklyn Wilson was chairman of the College Council.
Jerome Fitzgerald, the now minister of education, was deputy chairman.
Alfred Sears, now chairman of the College Council, was minister of education.
During the firestorm that erupted after the convocation speech, the council appointed a special panel to look into the plagiarism blunder and recommend the way forward.
In its report, the panel recommended termination, saying it did not see how Smith would have cause to complain or feel aggrieved.
Four of the five panel members recommended termination while the late Professor Rex Nettleford, at the time vice chancellor emeritus of the University of the West Indies, wrote a dissenting view.
Smith insisted that his use of a portion of the speech without providing attribution did not amount to plagiarism because Sexton later said that his work is the property of the academic community.
However, the panel determined that Smith's action indeed amounted to plagiarism.
"While we are aware of some emerging thoughts on plagiarism which appear to be less demanding, a comparison of the Sexton text and the Smith text, using any widely accepted authoritative definition of plagiarism, leads easily to the conclusion that his omissions amounted to plagiarism," said the report, written by retired Justice Joseph Strachan on behalf of the majority.
"Nothing that was said to us by President Smith erases that. On the contrary, a part of what he said discloses ambivalence at best and being disingenuous at worst. We note his studious refusal to use the word 'plagiarism', choosing instead, 'intellectual property rights'."
The panel's report also said, "There are two occasions on which President Smith omitted to acknowledge his indebtedness to President Sexton, at the Honours Convocation and at the commencement; and hence, since each omission has the specific gravity, a conclusion that the requirements for cause are met follows irresistibly."
It also noted that the law provides that the council may remove the president from office on the ground of misconduct, inefficiency or other good cause.
"Of this subsection, it is enough to say that we consider the omissions to fall within that provision," the panel wrote.
The panel also recommended various options for handling the situation moving forward, saying that should Smith fail to resign within a specified period to be chosen by the council, the council would have no option but to terminate him.
The council was also advised to take the steps necessary for the "timely discharge of its contractual obligations to him".
In addition to Justice Strachan and Professor Nettleford, panel members included Anglican Archbishop Drexel Gomez (now retired); then Bahamas Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Paulette Bethel and then President-elect of John Carroll University of Cleveland, Ohio, and former Vice Provost of the University of San Francisco Father Robert Niehoff.
The dissenting view was not made public.
Smith resigned in early August 2005 and later revealed that the council had asked him to, based on the panel's recommendations.
Wilson later confirmed that Smith had been paid the nearly $300,000 agreed to as a part of his buyout arrangement with the council.
Return
COB moved on without Rodney Smith but never loss sight of its goal to attain university status.
In early 2014, the College Council surprised many when it advised that Smith was one of four candidates short-listed for the post of presidency.
Also shortlisted were Dr. Gregory Carey, Dr. Phillip Carey and Dr. Olivia Saunders.
Dr. Gregory Carey is an assistant professor and director of student summer research and community outreach, Center for Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases at the University of Maryland.
Dr. Phillip Carey is a full professor of sociology and former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, North Carolina A&T State University.
Saunders is a professor in the School of Business at COB, former team leader of the University Transition Secretariat and former dean of business, hospitality and tourism studies.
Over a period of weeks, the candidates made their cases for why they should be appointed president.
When he addressed COB stakeholders in March, Smith said he was disappointed to have left the college amid the plagiarism controversy, but has returned and offered himself again for consideration in the national interest.
"I left feeling disappointed that even though I had taken a drastic reduction in income and returned home to serve, I was being rejected and did not feel the support I was promised," Smith said.
"My family and I have suffered for the past nine years emotionally and financially as a result. I am not a plagiarist, and I have never been accused of such before or since that incident.
"I am here today, offering myself once again to be of service to my country."
After we informed Wilson recently that the Advisory Search Committee has recommended that Smith be reappointed, we asked the former chairman if he thinks it would be a good move to make Smith president again.
Wilson said it would be a "significant error for the country" if Smith is reappointed to the top post.
He said he could not confirm that Smith's name has been forwarded to the minister of education for consideration.
But he said, "I personally would be disappointed if that were, in fact, the recommendation."
Wilson said, "I think it would be a significant cause for having to explain a lot to the public as to why that is the right thing to do.
"In doing so, I make it clear, there is no question about the competence of the gentleman. There is no question in my mind about that, but the issues left from the time of his separation from the college, they remain, and quite frankly his performance when he came back for the interview, I cannot believe that an objective analysis of his comments when he came back for this interview would leave him as [the best] candidate."
Of course, not everyone agrees with Wilson or National Review that Smith's reappointment would be an error.
When we contacted Bishop Gomez yesterday, he said that as a member of the panel in 2005 it was his view that Smith needed to be penalized.
But Gomez told us that, based on Christian principles, he believes in second chances and the plagiarism controversy should not block Smith's reappointment.
We contacted the bishop as he was close to the process that climaxed with Smith's resignation.
Gomez's comments to National Review came days after Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Search Committee Ruby Nottage blasted Wilson for expressing his opinion on this matter.
"The meticulousness of the search process as undertaken by the Advisory Search Committee could never, as claimed by Mr. Wilson, constitute a 'significant error' for the country, or be a 'significant cause' for explanation," said Nottage at a press conference at COB.
"This was a process in which all persons had the opportunity to participate.
"It is to be regretted that Mr. Wilson would seek to make such disparaging speculations on the decision process."
We think it is absurd to suggest that the former council chairman should not express an opinion over whether Smith should serve again as president.
In fact, we could think of no one more qualified to respond to our question on this matter more than two weeks ago, given the position Wilson held during the plagiarism debacle.
The response from Nottage and the search committee appears to have been an overreaction, especially since Wilson made no comments or innuendo on the work of the committee or the process involved.
On Thursday, we asked the current COB Council Chairman Alfred Sears whether he endorsed the search committee's response to Wilson.
Obviously careful in his response to that question, Sears said, "I support that we ought to defend the integrity of the process as a transparent and competitive process designed to serve the best interest of The College of The Bahamas and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas".
Again, we see no evidence where the integrity of the process has been attacked.
Decision
With the entire matter of Rodney Smith and his application for reappointment now sullied by another round of controversy, it is unclear at this point how long the Cabinet will take to make a decision.
Reappointing him president would likely be a huge distraction at a time when COB is undergoing the most significant transformation in its 40-year history.
This could make for a very rocky start for the university.
We quibble not with his qualifications. Smith is eminently qualified, as are all the other candidates whom we have seen in this process.
We are not focused on his qualification, and we advise those who are tasked with making the final determination not to be seduced by this factor either.
What has to be weighed here is that we are putting the final touches to what will be a national institution, The University of The Bahamas.
We cannot afford to lay the seminal blocks of what we wish to be a great institution with this gray cloud around its first president. We cannot afford this, and we will not stand for it.
For those making the final decision, we must remember that hard decisions must sometimes be taken when one is in the business of nation building. This is not for the faint of heart or the weak stomach. A decision to accept the recommendation of the committee to appoint Smith would, in fact, be an error on a national scale, the results of which would be more clearly seen into our future as a nation.
We cannot continue to ask our citizens to behave beyond reproach when our national decision making is left wanting.
We need to set the national bar higher than where we have it today and establish clear standards in public life.

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