To the thief who stole my 350+ Yak

I don’t like to brag, but I’m pretty great at Yik Yak. With over 25,000 yakarma and counting after just six months, I don’t want to say I’m a legend yet, but I’ll probably be there soon. Just two weeks ago, I posted one of my most successful yaks.

It hit the top quickly, stayed there for a bit, and then retired with a very respectable 373 upvotes. Just a couple hours later though, I saw this plagiarized yak.

This is the definition of plagiarism

That was my yak, reworded to soothe the thief’s tortured conscience and posted on UNC’s thread. It was sickening to see my work stolen by these random people with no acknowledgement that this was my brainchild. Had this been a song instead of a yak, the thief would be languishing in a federal prison for copyright infringement. As it currently stands, he roams free, albeit at UNC.

Here at Princeton, we have this thing called the Honor Code. It certifies that whatever we have written is solely our work. The administration believes that this only applies to things like writing sem papers and theses. But in reality, it’s more than just academic integrity at stake; it’s personal integrity.

See, the Honor Code extends into your personal life, into your social media, into Yik Yak. The people of my university have a sense of decency; if you plagiarize on Yik Yak, people call you out. You are publicly shamed with a charming little recycling symbol. There was no public shaming for this thief.

So, whoever you are, I now publicly shame you and say that your yak was a repost. Shame on you. Shame.