Hornstine’s lawyer, Edwin Jacobs Jr., says the rejection was mutual. “Blair had decided to tender a withdrawal of her application simply because of the rabid, negative publicity on that campus,” he says. Harvard won’t comment, but accepted students are always told that admission can be revoked for behavior that questions “honesty, maturity or moral character.” Rutgers professor Donald McCabe, an expert on student cheating, says that Harvard did the right thing: “She violated a standard the university is trying to enforce.” Current students caught plagiarizing are “ordinarily required to withdraw,” according to the student handbook. At the moment, Hornstine is taking college classes (at an undisclosed campus) and figuring out her next move. “Blair has been exploring other alternatives, namely campuses less hostile than Harvard,” says Jacobs. No matter where she goes, she’s already earned a degree from the school for scandal.
