Turnquist was found guilty of "innocent infringement" by Bethel's Grievance Review Committee, was forced to give Shults an apology, and had to remove all the labs from his website. Apparently Shults is not happy with the committee's slap on the wrist. He has not received an apology yet (see the comment at the end of the article entitled "corrections"), and he's created a website that documents the whole affair.
When I read this article, I immediately thought of all those assignments and labs I had borrowed from my fellow faculty members and the labs/assignments I have given to others to use in their classes. I have always removed their names on the documents and thought nothing of it... I assumed they were doing the same. But I have also never posted the documents on a website for public consumption.
Our department is now discussing this issue, and I think we'll all be more diligent about giving credit when modifying another's lab/assignment for class use. However, we all agreed that the best way to handle a situation like Bethel's is to go directly to the offending party.
Since Bethel is a Christian university like Harding, I couldn't help but wonder how applying the biblical principles set forth by Jesus and Paul would have drastically changed the situation.
Matthew 18:15:
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother."
Matthew 5:38-39:
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."
1 Corinthians 6:6-7:
"But brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?"
Actually, what Shults has done is create a website which portrays his experience and evaluation of the episode, rather than a complete statement of the facts. He does not include the report of the grievance committee, for instance, but his deconstruction of it. He does not inform readers that the committee was made up of three faculty members, who made the recommendation, and that he chose one of them, and Turnquist chose one, and that one was the past president of the Faculty Senate. Their judgment was unanimous. The Provost and President concurred with the committee. If you want his take on Matthew 5:38, read his facebook page, which includes it as a defining verse--but not one to live by, evidently!
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