Caught Crimson-Handed: Harvard President Steps Down Following Controversy
By Allyson Kling
On January 2nd, 2024, Harvard University’s president, Claudine Gay, stepped down from her position. Gay decided to make this decision shortly after facing a large amount of criticism following her responses to questions regarding antisemitism on Harvard’s campus, along with questions about her own professional plagiarism. In a message to the Harvard community, Gay stated that she was stepping down “with a heavy heart but deep love for Harvard.”
Gay faced a massive amount of criticism following her reaction to obvious antisemitism throughout Harvard’s campus. Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, there has been a noticeable rise in antisemitic threats and actions in college campuses throughout the United States. To address this issue, the presidents of UPenn, MIT, and Harvard were called into questioning by congress. In particular, Claudine Gay was repeatedly asked at the conference whether or not people calling for the genocide of Jewish people was against Harvard policy. Instead of giving a direct answer to this, Gay stated that it depended on the “context.” According to Fox news, “following intense backlash, Gay issued a statement clarifying that the university has a clear position against calls for violence against the Jewish community.” Audiences who saw this statement on Harvard’s X page questioned why she didn’t express her support before congress one day prior, and only acted this way once she knew her reputation was in danger. Her words were called a “clean-up effort” by many.
On top of the problems regarding antisemitism on campus, Gay also faced allegations of plagiarism prior to (and following) her resignation. She was mainly accused of plagiarizing her research articles multiple times during her professional career. Following an investigation conducted by Harvard, they said the investigation revealed “a few instances of inadequate citation.”
Claudine Gay, who was initially a professor of Government and African American Studies at Harvard, became president of the University in July after serving as the Dean of Arts and Sciences for about five years. Her run as president was the shortest in Harvard history, lasting only a few months.
Harvard’s provost, Dr. Alan Garber, will become interim president.
