Harvard's Claudine Gay Resigns, Ending the Shortest Presidency in University's History
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned Jan. 2 amid a growing plagiarism scandal and criticism of her response to anti-Semitism on campus.
“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,” Gay wrote in an open letter to members the Harvard community.
She said that “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.”
Pushing back against her critics and claiming racism as the root of complaints against her, Gay, who is black, said that “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.”
“I believe in the people of Harvard because I see in you the possibility and the promise of a better future,” she wrote. “These last weeks have helped make clear the work we need to do to build that future — to combat bias and hate in all its forms, to create a learning environment in which we respect each other’s dignity and treat one another with compassion, and to affirm our enduring commitment to open inquiry and free expression in the pursuit of truth.”
This is Claudine Gay’s resignation letter. Rather than take responsibility for minimizing antisemitism, committing serial plagiarism, intimidating the free press, and damaging the institution, she calls her critics racist. This is the poison of DEI ideology. Glad she’s gone. pic.twitter.com/WlqMKLn6pA
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 2, 2024
Gay offered a revisionist view of her tenure, which began in July, as it ended.
“When my brief presidency is remembered, I hope it will be seen as a moment of reawakening to the importance of striving to find our common humanity — and of not allowing rancor and vituperation to undermine the vital process of education,” she wrote.
Her resignation made her time as president the shortest in Harvard’s history, according to The Harvard Crimson.
Alan Garber, Harvard’s provost, will serve as interim president, the university’s fellows announced.
They said that they accepted Gay’s resignation “with sorrow.”
“While President Gay has acknowledged missteps and has taken responsibility for them, it is also true that she has shown remarkable resilience in the face of deeply personal and sustained attacks,” they said. “While some of this has played out in the public domain, much of it has taken the form of repugnant and in some cases racist vitriol directed at her through disgraceful emails and phone calls.”
Gay has been embattled for months, first over the college’s response to anti-Semitism on campus following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, then for her comments to a congressional panel about calls for genocide.
No President Gay, you seem to be confused.
Calling for the genocide of Jews is wrong. Period.
It does not “depend on the context”, as you repeatedly said during an @EdWorkforceCmte hearing this week.
Resign. https://t.co/DdwYHSwKTd pic.twitter.com/mbn7aWuhUN
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) December 7, 2023
Finally, she was embroiled in a plagiarism scandal, with allegations that she had copied a multitude of academic papers.
That issue crested Jan. 1 when The Washington Free Beacon published a complaint made against Gay that increased the allegations of plagiarism against her.
The six additional allegations made the total claims that she stole from the work of others to about 50.
Overall, eight of Gay’s 17 published works, beginning with her 1997 dissertation, have been targeted by allegations of plagiarism.
Although Harvard’s governing board initially stood behind Gay, the new complaint said it did so without doing its job.
“The board’s review of Gay’s work was too brief to inspire confidence,” the complaint said, according to the Free Beacon. “So we now know for certain that the board’s investigation was a sham.”
During the congressional hearing on Dec. 5, Gay and Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York crossed swords over whether anti-Semitic conduct was harmful.
“Anti-Semitic speech when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation — that is actionable conduct and we do take action,” Gay said at the hearing of the House Education and Workforce Committee, according to the Crimson.
“At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment?” Stefanik asked.
“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay responded.
“It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes and this is why you should resign,” the congresswoman said. “These are unacceptable answers across the board.”
Although calls for her resignation began then, Harvard’s board issued a public declaration of support for Gay on Dec. 12.
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