ABSTRACT
Charles Van Doren seems to have been pretty much absolved from guilt by the verdict of public opinion, in spite of the fact that professors and the academic community clearly condemned him. Students at Columbia University, where Van Doren taught, appeared to share the readiness to exonerate him. The most striking aspect of their responses is the readiness with which they forgave Van Doren and extended him their sympathy. The students queried in the investigation are probably a somewhat better cross section of college students than the demonstrators at Columbia University. Students, like the population as a whole, were inclined to blame the sponsors, network, or producers more than Van Doren, but hardly because they were indignant at the industry. Van Doren as well as those who collaborated in the hoax was all victims of a corrupt society.
