By SARAH RODERICK-FITCH | THE CENTER SQUARE
Harvard President Claudine Gay announced her resignation Tuesday following new allegations of plagiarism and scrutiny of her congressional testimony on antisemitism.
In recent weeks, Gay’s presidency has divided the Ivy League university, with faculty, administrators and the governing Harvard Corporation supporting the embattled president. At the same time, a group of students called for her to step down.
In Gay’s resignation letter, she expressed the difficult decision to step down from the university while saying personal attacks were “fueled” by racism. The letter was void of responsibility for minimizing antisemitism, serial plagiarism, intimidating the press, or damage to the institution.
Her term is the shortest of presidents for Harvard, which traces its founding to 1636.
“It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president. This is not a decision I came to easily,” Gay wrote.
“Amidst all of this, it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor – two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am – and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus,” Gay added.
Gay noted she consulted with the Harvard Corporation in her decision. Last month, the 13-member governing board unanimously stood by the university president, reaffirming confidence.
“After consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual,” Gay wrote.
Over the weekend, students called for Gay’s resignation in an editorial in The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper, citing “scandal after scandal.”
“University President Claudine Gay should resign,” the editorial demanded. “It has been less than half a year since Gay assumed one of the most prestigious posts in all of academia. Since then, scandal after scandal has plagued our beloved university.”
The editorial slammed those at the university for standing by Gay after her controversial congressional testimony and allegations of plagiarism, saying the scandal surrounding Gay was ultimately hurting the university.
“Because our peers avoid reckoning with the severity of Gay’s failures, dismissing instances of explicit plagiarism as insufficient to warrant her resignation, we respectfully dissent,” the editorial wrote. “One doesn’t need to look far to see that Harvard isn’t running smoothly – these scandals disrupt teaching and research, Harvard’s core missions. As students, we are exhausted.”
The opinion piece said Gay’s good character and scholarly abilities weren’t enough to save her tenure as president.
“President Gay may be a good person. She may even be a praiseworthy scholar, despite the allegations. But that isn’t enough to remain president. The leader of the world’s foremost university must be held to a higher standard, one that Gay has unfortunately failed to meet,” the editorial concluded. “It is clear to us that the continuation of Gay’s tenure as president only hurts the University. For Harvard’s sake, Gay must go.”
Despite the students’ call for Gay’s resignation, last month, Gay received a boost of support from nearly 700 faculty members who urged the president not to bow to pressure to resign, citing “political pressures.”
Still gets paid and continues teaching there. Nothing was done.
Just another lying teacher that doesn’t know squat.
Everybody that she teaches just dumbs down their knowledge.
The best proof she wasn’t smart enough for the job was her using (predictably) the excuse of racism. It is the argument of weak and vapid minds. Which, sadly, explains its effectiveness.
There is no ism on Earth capable of making her a serial plagiarist. She did that herself. There is no ism on Earth which kept her from keeping order on campus. She did that herself, too. If she suffers any ism at all, it’s “Claudine Gay ism”.
Had she just kept order, she’d still be there now. Harvard knew she was incompetent and hired her anyway. Plagiarism and personal bigotry aside.
Don’t feel too bad for her. As of yesterday Harvard was still planning to pay her salary for awhile.
Fake and Gay.
Yes and I am surprised she is not blaming climate change for her troubles.
The left is good at blaming someone or thing instead of standing tall and admit their shortfalls.
I never had or desire to go to Harvard , the “school of hard knocks ” over my life time although many more years of study has beared much fruits that, I only can appreciate to some DEGREE, Pun not intended! The best part of that education was the experience & the money reward just the same. One will hope that many Alaskan Alumni will comment to this post so to clear the air over it’s current controversy among the few across Alaska’s landscape all of which others seek to further their education beyond our own Universities. On comment directly one is not surprised to see any comment from the Students as “scandal after scandal.” This will work it’s resolve now that is plainly aired & the Onion is peeled back! This process hopefully teaches past & future students that it is inevitably human to Sin & sinners are among us! From what this simple man knowns, Harvard is a place to go to learn how to deal with that! Happy New Year & God save this Republic.
Apparently she gets to retain her tenured position at Harvard. Plagiarizing others to obtain your PhD is all good as long as you can deflect blame toward “White Supremacy.” Doesn’t matter, to a liberal, that she plagiarized another black lady…it’s still racism to mention it.
It appears that “claiming victimhood” is exactly how she falsely elevated to the position of President of Harvard. Give her credit for being consistent when “claiming victimhood” in her overdue resignation. It is always sad when people who fail in competence associate their failure with racism. Even sadder when the most pressing reason she needed leave was her own racism against Israelis.
Fortunately she is not a victim of technology which so many are today, swindled and harmed. Ergo her lovely smile.
But she kept her $900k a year salary I read? That must make Harvard alumni so proud to pay a liar and cheat nearly $1M a year to not do a job. This exemplifies everything that’s wrong with colleges and universities in America.
With that Auschwitzian haircut, I have to wonder if “she” is not actually Claude Gay.
Which in this degenerate day and age, would not surprise me in the slightest.
This is what happens when you hire based on diversity rather than qualifications. Seems to be a growing trend. In this electronic age you can easily build an application process that excludes everything not related to actual job qualifications and for such a high level position a little background search wouldn’t hurt to verify qualifications. I can’t even get VA benefits without being questioned about race, gender preference, and sexual behavior and preferences. Maybe a good story would get me better service. I know it will quickly qualify me many services reserves and grants not available to people of my birth. How is this equality?
Gay is incompetent and unfit to the core. A promoted minority, not prepared scholastically for the rigors of university president. Not even a two-year community college chancellor. This is what happens when identity politics is used as a promotional tool to showcase liberalism. Standards dive down and the university becomes exposed to ridicule, reputational harm, and eventually …..law suits. Democrats have forced us into ugly times.
Today, you would get a better education at a community college
Let’s just say it plain and simple:
She is DUMB.
Chrissy, I guess if you’re right about the improper promotion of an incompetent minority, then its not truly her (Gay’s) fault. Its hard to imagine any incompetent minority applicant not accepting a position with that much profit if the idiots doing the hiring offer it up?
Wayne,
She isn’t qualified to be Harvard’s president. She knows it. Listen to her speak and try to answer questions from congress. My high school daughter can do a better job. Harvard just took itself off the list of high IQ and high SAT applicants. Sad!
The liberal, Marxist Democrats pushing the woke hiring process are now eating crow (sh*t). Getting accepted into Harvard as an intelligent, female is no longer an aspiration for thinking students.
Gay must go.
She was a victim alright – a victim of her own stupidity and uppity nature.
And she continues on the pre-roll at $900,000 per year! Is our society gone? Totally crazy?
It’s interesting how she attacks her critics as racist for pointing out (regarding campus unrest) her own soft racism.
Yep… could not be her fault she plagiarized.
Definitely the fault of those who pointed it out, not the fault of the person committing the wrong.
.
Seriously, has a leftist, at any time in history, accepted blame for their own actions? Frankly, I cannot think of a single one that ever did. Gay is no different.
I know this off on a tangent, but imagine that over the next few days pedophile-adjacent Bill Clinton will also claim that he is some kind of a victim.
I want to be clear about something – I have no actual evidence that Bill Clinton is a pedophile. It does seem that a number of people have testified that a person appearing similar to Bill Clinton made numerous trips to places where under-age women were exploited for sexual purposes, but no person has testified that Bill Clinton committed acts of pedophilia. Jeffrey Epstein can probable clear this up very quickly. Unfortunately, Mr. Epstein seems to have injured himself in a high-security federal prison. This may all be some kinda misunderstanding.
Consulting with attorneys prior to the house testimony was all I needed to determine Ms. Gay was not qualified to be President of Harvard.
What, frank, you are not automatically standing up for the pro-woke, pro-radical-leftist, pro-establishment figure here?
Color me surprised.
(Does that make me a person of color?)
This is only the tip of the iceberg. The panel that hired her needs to go too and and new people brought in who can return integrity and balance to the University. It won’t be quick or easy. After the Bud Lite fiasco companies will avoid poorly educated graduates from biased Universities.
Victim of the week.
Was it then racism that got her hired to be the president of the supposed highest position in academia?
Too bad, she checked all the boxes.
Attendance at an ivy league school has become a red flag instead of a merit or something to be proud of. I would rather hire or vote for someone with an 8th grade education and a degree of working for a living. Education is what education does.
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