Gibbs Affair

Columbia trustees refuse to hire Oliver Wolcott Gibbs (Class of 1841) to become the new science professor, even though he's an alumni and he's the most qualified scientist in America. They're annoyed that he's Unitarian and that other people actually had the gall to tell them who to hire. So out of spite they hire some other guy who turns out to be a confederate spy during the civil war. Oops. Gibbs goes on to become one of America's great chemists - at Harvard.