Colorado principal resigns after plagiarizing speech

A high school principal in Mead has resigned after plagiarizing a best-selling book during his speech to graduating seniors.

KDVR reports that Mead High School principal Troy Snyder took more than half of his speech from “Lean In”, a New York Times bestseller, which was written by Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.

A video of the speech was posted to a website. The Longmont Times-Call reports that a member of the public notified the district that Snyder stole from the book.

In a statement, Synder said his mother was diagnosed with cancer days before graduation. Days later, his wife also had a cancer scare, so he was too distracted to finalize his own speech. Synder said he is now asking the community for forgiveness.