A law student who graduated from N.C. Central University last week has confessed to plagiarizing the commencement address he delivered.

Preston Mitchum, 25, borrowed heavily from a speech made last year by Anthony Corvino, a student at Binghamton University in New York, according to the News & Observer of Raleigh. Mitchum apparently found the Corvino speech on YouTube.

“Mitchum copied the speech, delivering parts of it word for word,” the N&O reported.

On Monday, he apologized, saying, he meant to credit Corvino while at the podium but failed to do so.

Corvino told the N&O that Mitchum had contacted him and received permission to quote from the speech, which extolled the virtues of being an ordinary student.

NCCU Provost Kwesi Aggrey on Tuesday issued the following statement:

"We are deeply saddened and disappointed that our student engaged in plagiarism. At North Carolina Central University, we completely disavow this behavior by any of our students in any capacity. To our knowledge, this is the first time someone has replicated remarks for one of our Commencement exercises. We hope this incident will serve as a teaching moment for our students."

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