Facts: Matthew Gabriel was a student in Professor Pumo’s immunology class. Professor Pumo’s syllabus outlined course requirements and stated that “plagiarism will not be tolerated.” After grading the first assignment, Professor Pumo realized that many papers had sentences copied from other sources without citations. Instead of reporting everyone for plagiarism, Professor Pumo said she would give students a “free pass” on one copied sentence. But Gabriel’s paper contained many plagiarized sentences, so he received a failing grade for the assignment. 

Gabriel sued the professor for breach of contract. He argued that the syllabus was a contract and that the “free pass” policy broke it—because that term was not part of their original agreement. According to Gabriel, since the professor breached the contract, he was no longer obligated to refrain from plagiarizing, and so should not be punished. 

Questions:

1. Was the professor’s syllabus an offer whose acceptance formed an enforceable contract?

2. Was the determination of this case governed by common law or the UCC? Why?

3. What is the issue with the statement on the syllabus that “plagiarism will not be tolerated?”