Graduate Threatens Suit Over Speech: Valedictorian Was Pressured to Quit, His Attorney Says

By Mary Beth Lane, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Jun. 12–LANCASTER, Ohio — The Circleville High School valedictorian who was stripped of the title after admitting he lifted two-thirds of his commencement address from a YouTube video says school officials coerced him into confessing to plagiarism.

Now, 18-year-old Melanio C. Acosta IV wants an apology from the school officials and his title reinstated.

His Lancaster attorney, D. Joe Griffith, said he plans to fax a letter today to district Superintendent Sam Lucas with the demands. If they are not met, Griffith said he plans to file a lawsuit Monday in Pickaway County Common Pleas Court seeking an apology, reinstatement of the valedictorian title and unspecified damages.

The lawsuit will say that school officials slandered Acosta, cast him in a false light, invaded his privacy and coerced him into relinquishing his title, Griffith said.

Lucas declined to comment yesterday.

Acosta meant to entertain with the short speech, much of which he borrowed from “The Perfect Beatles Graduation Speech,” a YouTube video of a collage of Beatles songs, and he credited John, Paul, George and Ringo as the original authors, Griffith said.

“It can’t meet the textbook definition of plagiarism,” he said.

Acosta surrendered his valedictorian plaque and e-mailed a letter to school officials on June 4 in which he said his actions were “inexcusable, selfish, slothful and unethical.”

But he sent the letter unbeknownst to his parents and without consulting a lawyer, Griffith said.

It is harmful if the word “plagiarism” follows him through life, Griffith said.

“In this day and age, a charge like this, it hangs around,” he said. “The point of the lawsuit is to set the record straight. This is not about money.”

Acosta plans to attend Ohio State University in the fall as a pre-med student.

mlane@dispatch.com

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