An Ohio University student was left to find her own way home from Greece after being found guilty of plagiarism on a study abroad program at sea.
Allison Routman, an Ohio University senior from Minnesota, along with a student from California Baptist University, were expelled from Semester at Sea, a program sponsored by the University of Virginia, for plagiarizing from Wikipedia.
“When we first arrived at the ship, they explained the honor code to everyone,” Routman said. “But it is a very complex system, especially for those who don't go to U. Va. and are unfamiliar with how it works.”
In Routman’s Global Studies class, the first essay asked students to compare a film to lectures in class and port experiences. Routman wrote about the film Europa Europa. After watching the film, she used the Web site Wikipedia to verify historical terminology and an overview of the plot.
She said when students on the ship heard about what had happened, they reacted with petitions, T-shirts and letters directed toward administrators. Routman assembled the packet of student’s letters and statements and sent it both to the student-life coordinator and to her parents, who forwarded it to Virginia’s campus back in the U.S.
Because of safety concerns, Routman’s parents spoke with administrators to ensure that she did not have to fly out of Egypt. Routman was dropped off at the next port, outside of Athens, Greece, where she was provided with cab fare for transportation to the airport. Routman slept in the airport until her flight departed the next morning.
