{"id":129774,"date":"2026-02-11T06:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T06:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/129774\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T06:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T06:33:08","slug":"adelphi-university-accused-a-student-of-using-ai-to-plagiarize-he-fought-back-and-won","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/129774\/","title":{"rendered":"Adelphi University accused a student of using AI to plagiarize. He fought back \u2014 and won."},"content":{"rendered":"

An Adelphi University student who sued the school over what he called a \u201ccompletely false\u201d allegation that he used artificial intelligence to write an essay has won his case, with a judge ordering the school to reverse the disciplinary measures against him.<\/p>\n

The Garden City university\u2019s finding that the student, Orion Newby, used AI to commit plagiarism, and its denial of his subsequent appeal, were \u201cwithout valid basis and devoid of reason,\u201d state Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County wrote on Jan. 28. The school must expunge his record, the judge ruled.<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuit, Adelphi relied in part on AI detection software to accuse Newby of improperly using AI. University officials ordered Newby to attend a plagiarism workshop\u00a0\u2014 which, while considered a “nondisciplinary” punishment, could have resulted in suspension or expulsion if he was found to have committed a second offense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels incredible to finally have my name cleared,\u201d said Newby, 20, who lives in Lido Beach with his parents, Candace and Hunter Newby,\u00a0and is now in his second year at Adelphi, where he majors in history. \u201cWinning this case is a huge weight off of my shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUNDAn Adelphi University student accused of using artificial intelligence to plagiarize has won his case, with a judge ordering the school to expunge his record.The Garden City university\u2019s finding that the student, Orion Newby, used AI to commit plagiarism, and its denial of his subsequent appeal, were \u201cwithout valid basis and devoid of reason,\u201d the judge wrote.An Adelphi spokeswoman said they were “evaluating the court’s decision and will proceed accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The university\u2019s denial of Newby\u2019s appeal left the family \u201cno choice\u201d but to sue<\/a>, given that the same thing could have happened again and resulted in expulsion, Candace Newby said. The family has spent six figures on legal costs, she said.<\/p>\n

An Adelphi spokeswoman said the school \u201cdoes not comment on litigation or on individual or personal cases involving students or faculty. We are evaluating the court’s decision and will proceed accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newby\u2019s attorney, Mark Lesko, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York and former vice president at Hofstra University, said the ruling should prompt Adelphi and other colleges to overhaul their AI policies and make sure students get due process.<\/p>\n

The decision is \u201ca bellwether example of why universities need to be very careful and protective of their students when they address issues regarding the use of AI in the classroom,\u201d Lesko said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t tell you how many parents have reached out to us with similar issues,\u201d Lesko said. \u201cIt’s clearly a growing problem in higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n

AI allegation<\/p>\n

Adelphi\u2019s case against Newby stemmed from work he submitted in a fall 2024 World Civilizations 1 class taught by Assistant Professor Micah Oelze, according to court filings.<\/p>\n

It was Newby\u2019s first semester in college.<\/p>\n

A third-degree black belt in tae kwon do and an ocean lifeguard, Newby has been treated since he was about 2 years old\u00a0for learning and neurological disabilities that include language and auditory processing disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, his mother said. Newby works hard to overcome his disabilities, spending hours refining his writing with assistance from tutors, she said.<\/p>\n

\"Orion<\/p>\n

Orion Newby and his parents, Candace and Hunter Newby. Credit: Newsday\/Alejandra Villa Loarca<\/p>\n

In November 2024, Newby submitted a paper on Christianity and Islam. He had worked on it with a tutor from Bridges to Adelphi, the university\u2019s $5,000-a-semester program that advertises \u201cindividualized academic, social and vocational support services\u201d for students with disabilities, according to legal filings.<\/p>\n

Oelze gave the paper a grade of zero, according to court filings, in part because he thought it was AI-generated.<\/p>\n

In a message to Oelze, Newby said he was working with tutors at home and through Bridges, and that he would go to the writing lab for help. \u201cI work many hours on these assignments,\u201d Newby wrote.<\/p>\n

Oelze responded that he aimed \u201cto set you up for success in future history classes, so that you can be the best writer possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a one-on-one meeting, Oelze asked whether Newby had used the generative AI program Grammarly. In legal filings, Oelze stated Newby said he had used the program. However, Newby stated he told Oelze that he had received grammatical help from a tutor, not from Grammarly, court papers show.<\/p>\n

Soon after, Oelze filed a violation report with Adelphi alleging that Newby had violated the school\u2019s academic integrity code. The AI detection system Turnitin rated the essay 100% AI-generated, and the work \u201cdoes not carry the voice that I associate with Orion (or any college student),\u201d among other indications of AI use, Oelze wrote.<\/p>\n

Newby said he was stunned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought at first I was going to get arrested,\u201d he recalled. He submitted his paper to two other AI detection tools, which both called it human-written, court filings show.<\/p>\n

But Adelphi\u2019s academic integrity officer, Associate Professor Michael LaCombe, ruled against Newby after reviewing submissions by the student and professor.<\/p>\n

Newby appealed, stating the finding would \u201cpunish me for something I did not do.\u201d Adelphi\u2019s Student Bill of Rights promises a fair, impartial hearing and an \u201cadviser of choice\u201d in such cases, and \u201cthis does not seem to be happening,\u201d Newby wrote.<\/p>\n

LaCombe denied the appeal, writing that other faculty had also reviewed the matter and the violation report \u201cwill remain.\u201d<\/p>\n

LaCombe declined to comment. Oelze did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

In court papers, Adelphi said Oelze filed the report \u201cbased on his experience and judgment\u201d grading thousands of papers in his 10 years as a full-time professor. Turnitin is “reliable, accurate and an important tool” in detecting students\u2019 prohibited use of AI, and Oelze also considered the content of the essay and other factors, the university said in legal filings.<\/p>\n

However, the judge wrote in her decision that LaCombe \u201cfailed to even consider\u201d the two AI detection programs that found Newby\u2019s essay was human-written.<\/p>\n

In addition, Marber wrote, allowing the same professor, LaCombe, who made the initial decision to also rule on the appeal thwarted \u201ca student\u2019s right to an avenue of meaningful \u2018appeal\u2019 \u201d as promised in school policies.<\/p>\n

Marber\u2019s decision comes as the use of AI is exploding on campuses<\/a>, sparking concern that some students are using it to cheat \u2014 as well as worries that colleges are falsely accusing them. Almost nine out of 10 college and graduate students acknowledged using AI in academic work, according to the 2025 AI in Education Trends Report by Copyleaks, an AI text analysis platform.<\/p>\n

At many colleges, professors use AI detection tools such as Turnitin, which advertises accuracy rates of 96% or higher, depending on the amount and type of text submitted. A Turnitin spokeswoman said in a statement that it is \u201cdesigned to be one, but not the only, tool in the educator and administrator toolkit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some educators believe AI detection tools are not reliable enough, especially if students could face serious consequences based on their findings. A growing number of colleges have banned the tools.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s essential to avoid false accusations, said Jim Samuel, executive director of the Informatics Program at Rutgers University, where he does research on AI. \u201cIn most cases, it’s difficult to say with a sufficiently high degree of certainty that a person has used AI,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even so, he said, \u201cIf we don’t do anything about it, and students get the idea that they can just … use AI and get a 4.0 GPA and get away with it, that I think would be very counterproductive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critical thinking concerns<\/p>\n

A survey of college professors found 90% believe AI will harm students\u2019 critical thinking skills, and 73% have dealt with academic integrity issues involving students\u2019 use of AI, according to a January report <\/a>by the American Association of Colleges and Universities and Elon University\u2019s Imagining the Digital Future Center.<\/p>\n

Certain schools are inviting students to play a larger role in creating AI policies.<\/p>\n

The University of Virginia is forming an elected council of students who will advise professors and administrators about technology systems, \u201cincluding questions and issues around plagiarism and cheating,\u201d said Mona Sloane, who teaches data science and media studies at the school. Students \u201cmust be at the table,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Professors should also have a say, said Britt Paris, chair of the American Association of University Professors\u2019 AI committee. Many adjuncts earn roughly $2,000 per class and have seen their workloads increase dramatically as they redesign courses and spend more time grading to account for potential use of AI, she said.<\/p>\n

Professors can help students understand that developing critical thinking skills instead of relying on AI will benefit them, Paris said. \u201cWe don’t need to think about our students as adversaries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Indeed, professors could encourage students to use AI to review their drafts and suggest ways to improve them, said Kirsten Peterson, a senior project director at the nonprofit Education Development Center who is working on a National Science Foundation-funded project to provide AI instruction at community colleges.<\/p>\n

Educators, she said, need to \u201cslow down and teach our students the power of human intelligence and why they want to retain their critical thinking skills and to ensure that their voice matters.”<\/p>\n

Schools should strike a balance, teaching students to use AI but also making sure they develop the communication skills that will help them stand out, said Chris Cheetham-West, who educates colleges and other organizations about effective AI use.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, everybody’s on their phone, everybody’s texting … people are scared to pick up the phone,\u201d he said. \u201cBeing able to communicate your ideas, being able to talk to outside vendors or outside customers, or just even colleagues, and explain things in a simple way, that’s going to be one of the strongest skills to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

To head off improper AI use, some professors require students to complete assignments in class using pencil and paper, said James Brusseau, a philosophy professor at Pace University who researches AI use in higher education.<\/p>\n

It is also now\u00a0possible to administer oral exams in which an AI tool assesses students\u2019 spoken responses in real time and prompts them to give more information if needed, a system that makes it all but impossible to use AI to generate answers, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can go back to the way things used to be, or we can go forward to the way things could be,\u201d Brusseau said. \u201cBut the way things are right now obviously doesn’t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Maura<\/p>\n

Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Adelphi University student who sued the school over what he called a \u201ccompletely false\u201d allegation that he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[67,36405,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-129774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-local-education","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-headlines","12":"tag-new-york-news","13":"tag-new-york-state","14":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","15":"tag-new-york-state-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}