The Harvard Crimson - Volume CLI, No. 1

THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873

| VOLUME CLI, NO. 1

|

CAMPUS

OPINION

Students Have Mixed Reactions to Gay’s Shock Resignation

Harvard Must Learn From President Gay’s Troubled Tenure

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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

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| WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2024

EXTRA

MILES J. HERSZENHORN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER, SAMI E. TURNER — CRIMSON DESIGNER

President Gay Resigns, Shortest Spotlight Moves to Harvard Tenure In University History Corporation After Resignation

BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned Tuesday afternoon, after fierce criticism of the University’s response to the Hamas attack on Israel and backlash from her disastrous congressional testimony spiraled into allegations of plagiarism and doubts about her personal academic integrity.

Gay’s tenure — of just six months and two days — is the shortest in Harvard’s history.

University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 will lead in the interim until a new president is selected.

Her decision to resign effective immediately, which was first reported by The Crimson, marked a stunning downfall for Gay, Harvard’s first Black president and former dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

The Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — announced that it would begin the presidential search process “in due course.”

Though the email did not specify a timeline or announce the formation of a search committee, the process is expected to include soliciting feedback from Harvard affiliates.

A source close to Gay said she made her decision to resign last week.

In an email Tuesday afternoon, Gay wrote that she chose to resign following discussions with members of the Harvard 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.

Gay, 53, added that she will

continue to serve on Harvard’s faculty.

In a follow up email just minutes later, the Corporation confirmed Gay’s resignation and thanked her for her service to the University.

“Her own message conveying her intention to step down eloquently underscores what those who have worked with her have long known – her commitment to the institution and its mission is deep and selfless,” the Corporation wrote.

In a statement to The Crimson, former Harvard President and Gay’s predecessor Lawrence S. Bacow wrote that the announcements saddened him.

“Claudine is a person of great intellect, integrity, vision and strength. She had much to contribute not just to Harvard, but to all of higher education. I regret

SEE PAGE 3

BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation on Tuesday put the spotlight on the Harvard Corporation and Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 as calls grew for members of the University’s top board to follow suit.

The Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — is facing increased scrutiny over its own role in the most significant leadership crisis to face Harvard in decades, including how it handled allegations of plagiarism against Gay and the wider backlash against her leadership.

After Gay’s disastrous testimony before Congress alongside two other university presidents, a torrent of condemnation flooded down on the schools.

And when University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill resigned just four days after the hearing, the chairman of University of Pennsylvania’s Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok also stepped down from his role the same day.

But even as Gay departs the Harvard presidency, it seems that Pritzker, who leads the Corporation, will remain — at least for now.

Behind the scenes, the Corporation played a key role in preparing Gay for her widely criticized congressional testimony on Dec. 5, and a four-person subcommittee of the board conducted an investigation into the claims of plagiarism against Gay. The Corporation was first informed of the plagiarism allegations in late October when they launched an independent investigation of anonymous claims privately sent by the New York

Post. Harvard’s lawyers from Clare Locke — a high-powered law firm specializing in defamation lawsuits — threatened to sue the Post for the claims before the investigation unearthed several instances of inadequate citation.

After Gay’s testimony before Congress — during which she declined to say whether calls for the genocide of Jewish people would violate University policies — the Corporation waited one week before releasing a unanimous statement in support of her presidency.

The board also qualified their Dec. 12 statement of support by noting that the decision was reached after “extensive deliberation” — a significant public rebuke of a new president.

WilmerHale partner and former Corporation senior fellow William F. Lee ’72 played a major

SEE PAGE 4

THE SCANDAL

THE DOWNFALL

THE FUTURE

Gay Plagued by Plagiarism Allegations

The Rise and Fall of President Claudine Gay

Interim President, Lengthy Search Awaits

PAGE 11. Plagiarism allegations against Harvard President Claudine Gay continued to emerge until days before she announced her decision to resign.

PAGE 9. Claudine Gay was widely expected to lead the University for the next decade. Instead, her tenure ended less than 200 days after she took office.

PAGE 8. Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 will serve as interim president while the Harvard Corporation conducts a search for Gay’s permanent successor.

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

JANUARY 3, 2024

Gay’s Presidency in Headlines DECEMBER 15, 2022

JUNE 29, 2023

Claudine Gay to Serve as the 30th President of Harvard

The Supreme Court Strikes Down Affirmative Action

SELECTING GAY. Claudine Gay was announced as the University’s next president — the first person of color and second woman to hold Harvard’s top post.

ADMISSIONS UNDER FIRE. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Harvard in a 6-2 landmark decision, declaring the University’s race-conscious admissions policy unconstitutional.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

OCTOBER 10, 2023

Gay Praised for Ability to Lead During Inauguration Ceremony

Harvard’s Statement on IsraelHamas Slammed as ‘Word Salad’

‘MORE THAN READY.’ University President Claudine Gay was inaugurated in the pouring rain as affiliates praised her ability to lead Harvard and higher education.

CRITICIZED RESPONSE. Harvard’s initial statement on Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel was widely criticized by affiliates and politicians for not condemning Hamas and antisemitism.

DECEMBER 7, 2023

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Gay’s Congressional Testimony Fuels Ongoing Backlash

‘I Am Sorry’: Gay Apologizes for Remarks During Testimony

DISASTROUS HEARING. Harvard President Claudine Gay traveled to Washington to quell criticisms of her handling of antisemitism on campus — but her testimony only made matters worse.

CONTINUED BACKLASH. Amid calls for her resignation following a controversial congressional testimony, University President Claudine Gay apologized for her remarks during the hearing.

DECEMBER 8, 2023

DECEMBER 12, 2023

Congress Opens Investigation into Harvard over Antisemitism

Corporation Supports Gay But Addresses Plagiarism Allegations

UNDER INVESTIGATION. Congress opened an investigation into Harvard over concerns of alleged antisemitism on campus.

SILENCE BROKEN. The Harvard Corporation released a statement of support amid continued calls for University President Claudine Gay’s removal and allegations of plagiarsm.

DECEMBER 12, 2023

JANUARY 2, 2024

Gay Under Fire for Allegations of Plagiarism in Academic Work

Claudine Gay Resigns, Shortest Presidency in Harvard History

SCHOLARSHIP SCRUTINIZED. Despite backing from the Harvard Corporation, University President Claudine Gay faced a mounting wall of plagiarism allegations across her academic work.

GAY DEPARTS. After months of backlash and controversy, Harvard President Claudine Gay stepped down from the presidency — marking the shortest tenure in University history.

Listen to The Crimson’s News Podcast BREAKING: HARVARD PRESIDENT RESIGNS Harvard President Claudine Gay will resign Tuesday afternoon, bringing an end to the shortest presidency in the University’s history.

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CORRECTIONS The Harvard Crimson is committed to accuracy in its reporting. Factual errors are corrected promptly on this page. Readers with information about errors are asked to e-mail the managing editor at managingeditor@thecrimson.com.

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON JANUARY 3, 2024

POLITICS

June 1, 1953

Claudine Gay’s Resignation Comes as a Win for the University’s Critics

Nathan M. Pusey ’28 is elected as the 24th president of Harvard University.

‘VICTORY.’ Critics of former University President Claudine Gay celebrate her resignation.

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Feb. 17, 1970 President Pusey announces his retirement.

Jan. 11, 1971 Derek Curtis Bok is announced as the 25th University president.

BY MADELEINE A. HUNG AND JOYCE E. KIM CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

May 29, 1990

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ormer Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation Tuesday marked a victory for critics of the University who have called for Gay’s removal following a controversial congressional testimony and mounting plagiarism allegations.

Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.), conservative activist Christopher F. Rufo, and billionaire hedge fund manager Bill A. Ackman ’88 have emerged as the faces of a campaign to remove Gay and make her a representative of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in higher education they say are antisemitic and harmful.

Following Gay’s announcement, they took to social media to celebrate — and claim credit for her decision to step down from the presidency.

Stefanik has repeatedly called for Gay’s resignation since October and led the most aggressive questioning of Gay during the Dec. 5 hearing about antisemitism on college campuses — which marked the beginning of the end for the University’s embattled leader.

When pressed before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on whether speech that calls for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s policies on bullying and harassment, Gay insisted that it depended on context.

Stefanik was dissatisfied with Gay’s answers, telling her directly multiple times throughout the hearing that she should step down from the presidency.

Gay’s response to Stefanik’s line of questioning also quickly drew backlash on campus and nationwide. Congress opened an investigation into Harvard over concerns of antisemitism on campus, and more than 70 members of Congress — mostly Republicans — signed a letter demanding Gay’s resignation.

Stefanik wrote in a Tuesday afternoon post on Instagram that while Gay’s resignation was “long overdue,” it was also “just the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history.”

The statement also referenced the ongoing congressional investigation into Harvard, which had recently been expanded to encompass the mounting plagiarism allegations against Gay. “Our robust Congressional investigation will continue to move forward to expose the rot in our most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions and deliver accountability to the American people,” Stefanik wrote.

But Stefanik wasn’t the only voice to loudly criticize Gay in the days following the congressional hearing.

Ackman — who donated $26

President Bok announces his retirement.

Mar. 24, 1991 Neil L. Rudenstine is confirmed by the Harvard Corporation and Board of Overseers as the next University president.

May 22, 2000 Rudenstine announces that he will resign at the end of the calendar year.

Mar. 9, 2001 Lawrence H. Summers is elected as the 27th president of the University.

Feb. 21, 2006 Summers resigns, and Bok returns to serve as interim president.

Feb. 8, 2007 The Crimson scoops that Drew Gilpin Faust is expected to be named the 28th University president, making her the first woman to lead the University.

June 14, 2017 Faust announces that she will be stepping down in June 2018.

Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ‘06 (R-N.Y.) took to X to celebrate — and claim credit for — Claudine Gay’s resignation from the University’s top post. MILES J. HERSZENHORN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

million to Harvard in 2014 — piled onto the barrage of criticism. Since the University’s initial statement in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Ackman has repeatedly slammed Gay and her administration in posts on X. Following Gay’s Dec. 5 congressional testimony, Ackman again took to X, this time calling on Gay — and the two presidents who testified alongside her — to “resign in disgrace.” Former University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill resigned just four days following the hearing.

But the backlash against Gay only continued to grow.

Just five days following her disastrous congressional testimony, Gay was hit with allegations of plagiarism.

In a Substack post, Rufo and journalist Christopher Brunet alleged that Gay had committed plagiarism in four of her academ-

ic works across 24 years, including her 1997 Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard.

Rufo’s post and other allegations by the Washington Free Beacon emerged as the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body with the power to pressure the president to resign — met to discuss the leadership crisis facing Harvard. Rufo said in a Dec. 10 post on X that he timed his release of the allegations to have the “maximum impact” on Gay’s presidency.

Less than one month after the Corporation announced its unanimous support for Gay following a meeting of the board, as further allegations of plagiarism piled up against the embattled then-president, she stepped down from the University’s top post.

Minutes after Gay’s resignation was announced, Rufo took to X to celebrate, writing that he was

“glad she’s gone.”

“Today, we celebrate victory,” Rufo wrote on X Tuesday. “Tomorrow, we get back to the fight.

We must not stop until we have abolished DEI ideology from every institution in America.”

In a separate post on X, Rufo also reiterated unsubstantiated claims that the Corporation selected Gay to lead Harvard on the basis of her identity as a Black woman. Many have criticized Rufo’s allegations and denounced them as racist, pointing to Gay’s five-year tenure as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and her acclaimed scholarly work.

“They cannot bear to confront the truth: Gay was not qualified, they made a bad decision in hiring her, and their commitment to race over merit has been a disaster,” Rufo wrote in a Tuesday post on X. In a email to affiliates an-

nouncing her decision to step down, Gay wrote that she was “subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus” as calls for her resignation grew over the past three months.

Neither Gay nor a Harvard spokesperson immediately responded to a request for comment Wednesday morning.

In their celebratory social media posts, Rufo and Stefanik both took credit for Gay’s departure from the presidency.

Rufo wrote in another Tuesday post on X that his “unorthodox” methods “have proven successful at exposing corruption, changing public opinion, and moving institutions.”

Stefanik was more blunt in her statement the same day.

“I will always deliver results,” she wrote. madeleine.hung@thecrimson.com joyce.kim@thecrimson.com

Feb 11, 2018 Lawrence S. Bacow is announced as the 29th president of the University.

June 9, 2022 Bacow announces that he will be stepping down in one year later.

Dec. 15, 2022 Claudine Gay is announced as the University’s 30th president, becoming the first person of color to lead the University.

Jan. 2, 2024 Gay announces her resignation — marking the shortest tenure in Harvard’s history.

Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 is named interim president.

GAY RESIGNS FROM PAGE 1

President Gay Resigns, Shortest Tenure In University History that she will not have that opportunity,” Bacow wrote.

Gay took office as the University’s 30th president on July 1, just two days after the Supreme Court ruled against Harvard in a landmark decision that effectively ended the use of race-conscious admissions practices.

At the time, the future of Harvard’s admissions seemed to be the central focus of her presidency, which was expected to last for more than a decade.

That all changed on Oct. 7.

Gay faced national backlash over the University’s initial response to the Israel-Hamas war, which did not directly condemn Hamas or address a controversial pro-Palestine statement signed by more than 30 student

groups.

Gay confronted scandal after scandal during her brief tenure at the helm of Harvard, making national headlines again following her congressional testimony about antisemitism on college campuses and the emergence of allegations of plagiarism in her scholarship.

All the while, Gay faced intense pressure from external voices calling for her removal or resignation, including Harvard donor Bill A. Ackman ’88, Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.), and conservative activist Christopher F. Rufo.

“It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rig-

or — 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 wrote in her email Tuesday.

The announcement comes just three weeks after the Corporation announced unanimous support for Gay after “extensive deliberations” following the congressional hearing.

Gay is now the second university president who testified at the hearing to resign. University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned just days after her testimony.

In the last month, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce opened a congressional investigation into an-

tisemitism at Harvard.

On Dec. 20, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce announced that it would expand its investigation into the plagiarism allegations against Gay and suggested it could jeopardize the University’s accreditation and federal funding. Harvard was in the process of providing the committee with a slew of requested documents related to the allegations before Gay’s resignation.

Donors, too, have been both privately and publicly halting their financial contributions to Harvard. Philanthropy accounts for nearly half of the University’s annual revenue, and the donor backlash sparked serious internal concern among

Harvard’s fundraising staff.

Gay’s decision to step down elevated Garber, the University’s provost since 2011, to the role of interim president.

Garber has served on the faculty at the Harvard Medical School, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. As provost, Garber manages cross-school initiatives, overseeing university academics, employment, research, international affairs, and special projects like the Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative.

As interim president, Garber will face the difficult task of guiding Harvard through one of its most turbulent periods in near-

ly two decades. Garber, who is Jewish, will also be charged with uniting a campus that remains bitterly divided over the fighting in Israel and Gaza.

Garber wrote in a statement on Tuesday that as interim president he will focus on “advancing our mission and helping to heal and strengthen a university that I cherish.”

“There is much to be done, and while today has been a difficult day, I know what this community can accomplish together,” he added. “I am confident we will overcome challenges we face and build a brighter future for Harvard.” emma.haidar@thecrimson.com cam.kettles@thecrimson.com

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

JANUARY 3, 2024

FACULTY REACTIONS

Faculty Express Disappointment And Relief EMOTIONS RUN HIGH. Harvard professors share thoughts on Claudine Gay’s surprise resignation.

BY JOYCE E. KIM, TILLY R. ROBINSON, AND NEIL H. SHAH CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

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aculty emotions ran high Tuesday following Claudine Gay’s resignation from Harvard’s presidency, with some professors expressing disappointment that Gay’s tenure was coming to an end and others calling her decision inevitable after an onslaught of recent controversies.

Gay resigned as president of Harvard after just six months in office, marking the shortest ever presidential tenure in the University’s history.

Many faculty described Gay’s resignation as a capitulation by the University to conservative lawmakers and activists who had long demanded her resignation, which faculty members denounced in searing terms.

Government and African and African American Studies professor Jennifer L. Hochschild said she was “furious” at the figures who embarked on a “deliberate campaign to destroy her career and maybe destroy her personally.”

“This is a way of getting at Harvard,” Hochschild said. “It’s a way of getting at broad concerns about diversity and inclusion.”

Ryan D. Enos, a Government professor, said that Gay’s resignation “represents an attack on the independence of universities.”

“I think it sends a message to the public that universities in the United States can be bullied and attacked for political reasons,” he said. “This was the university caving to a mob.”

Harvard Law School clinical instructor Alejandra L. Caraballo said Gay’s resignation sends a message that “academic institutions should cower in fear because they are one news cycle away from becoming embroiled in a controversy that will undermine the institution.”

Gay was thrust into the national spotlight on Dec. 5 when she testified before Congress about antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s response.

She came under fire following her noncommittal answer to a question from Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.) asking if calls for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard policies — a response for which she later apologized.

Still, the episode only fueled criticism from prominent donors and members of Congress over the University’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.

Concerns about Gay’s pres-

idency grew as she faced a series of plagiarism allegations which came to light following her testimony. She has since requested corrections to two of her published papers and her 1997 Harvard doctoral dissertation.

The allegations were first publicized by conservative activist Christopher Rufo and journalist Christopher Brunet, who, like Stefanik, claimed her resignation as a victory on Tuesday.

Stephen F. Jones, the director of the Davis Center’s Program on Georgian Studies, called the attacks on Gay “political theater” and part of a larger right-wing effort to discredit universities.

“This is part of a broader campaign by certain people in Congress — most notably, members of the extreme wing of the Republican Party,” Jones said.

The Corporation stood by Gay in a Dec. 12 statement, writing they had “confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal.” But after Gay’s resignation Tuesday, some faculty said that Harvard’s leaders should have mounted a stronger defense of Gay’s presidency.

“For me, this recalls the worst days of McCarthyism,” Alfred Guzzetti ’64, a professor of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, wrote in an email. “Today I am ashamed of the University’s leadership and ashamed, as I never thought I would be, to be a member of the Harvard faculty.”

Government lecturer Daniel J. Epstein ’99 agreed, writing in an email that he “always felt that Harvard is a rock of stability amid political storms,” adding that Gay’s resignation “seems to symbolize a bowing of our institution” to “the current harsh gale.”

Other faculty cited concerns over the racialized nature of backlash against Gay, the first person of color and second woman to serve as Harvard’s president.

Richard P. Chait, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, noted a “troublesome implication” from the controversies surrounding Gay. “Too many people are going to generalize from this one set of events — will generalize about African American leaders in higher education, both current and prospective leaders,” Chait said. “People who already have a bias will use this incident to reinforce that bias.”

Still, many faculty viewed Gay’s decision as the correct one.

Daniel J. Jacob, a professor of Environmental Science and Engineering, wrote in an email that he was “relieved” by Gay’s resignation because of her “lack of moral clarity about antisemitism at Harvard.”

“The evidence of repeated plagiarism in her scholarly work — plagiarism that I would not tolerate from my students and that my research colleagues would not

Former Harvard College Dean Harry R. Lewis ‘68 wrote Gay had lost the “moral authority” to effectively serve. MADELINE R. LEAR — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Astronomy professor Abraham “Avi” Loeb said Gay’s resignation was “inevitable.” SANTIAGO A. SALDIVAR — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

tolerate from me — disqualified her as Harvard leader and made her resignation unavoidable,” he wrote.

“It’s sad, but it had to happen,” Computer Science professor and former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 wrote in an email.

“Gay had lost the moral authority needed for the president’s voice and decisions to be trusted, either inside or outside Harvard.”

Neither Gay nor a Harvard spokesperson immediately responded to a request for comment early Wednesday morning.

Other faculty saw Gay’s resignation as the best course of action for the University’s financial interests amid intense criticism of her presidency. Since the Oct. 7 attack, several major donors — including the Wexner Foundation and billionaire Leonard V. Blavatnik — announced they would cease donating to Harvard.

Astronomy professor Abra-

ham “Avi” Loeb cited donors’ concerns as a factor that made Gay’s resignation “inevitable” in his view, especially if the University kicks off another capital campaign in the near future.

“If it’s difficult to initiate a new campaign or raise funds to Harvard, and difficult to engage with Washington, D.C., I think it would have been very difficult on a practical level for her to fulfill the duties of the president,” Loeb said.

But Chait, the HGSE professor, cautioned that conceding to donors’ political demands might undermine the purpose of their donations.

“What kind of university would you have if the University and the board of trustees consented to every suggestion or recommendation or even directive from donors?” Chait asked. “You would not have much of a university.”

Computer Science professor Boaz Barak said Gay’s resig-

Government professor Ryan D. Enos said Gay’s critics are threatening university independence. MEG P. BERNHARD — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

nation would allow Harvard to move on from the current media maelstrom engulfing it.

“Her resignation is proof that she cares first and foremost about the Harvard community, and didn’t want the personal focus on her to obstruct the healing and growth this campus needs,” Barak wrote in an email.

Gay was succeeded by Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber ’76, who is serving as interim president during the search for Gay’s successor. Several faculty members expressed confidence in Garber to assume leadership over the beleaguered University.

Jeffrey T. Schnapp, a professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of Comparative Literature, said he believes Garber’s experience and leadership will guide the University through the transition.

“Alan Garber is an experienced, highly respected academ-

ic leader who will be able to steer the university through the period of transition to a new president with a sure and steady hand,” Schnapp wrote in an email.

Still, some faculty lamented Gay’s resignation because it marked a loss of the potential they saw in her presidency.

“I am troubled to see all that she has worked toward and stood for at Harvard swept aside so quickly,” wrote Art, Film, and Visual Studies professor Sharon C. Harper in an email.

“I am deeply saddened by this tragic ending to a promising presidency,” History professor Lizabeth A. Cohen wrote in an email.

“I hope the Corporation will remain bold in its vision for Harvard’s future, as they were when they appointed Claudine Gay.” joyce.kim@thecrimson.com tilly.robinson@thecrimson.com neil.shah@thecrimson.com

CORPORATION FROM PAGE 1

As President Gay Resigns, Spotlight Moves to Harvard Corporation role in the testimony preparations despite having departed the board and also not specializing in congressional testimony preparation, The Crimson previously reported.

Lee’s role in the preparation raised questions about his lingering influence over the board and the role the Corporation itself played in the testimony prep, which may have contributed to the group’s decision to back Gay last month.

Just minutes after Gay announced her resignation, the Harvard Corporation released an email statement to affiliates thanking Gay for her dedication to the school and pointing to her previous apology.

The email — which did not acknowledge the board’s previous unanimous statement in support of Gay — suggested that Gay’s resignation was her own choice.

“We have accepted her resignation,” the email reads. “We do so with sorrow.”

No members of the Corporation — including Pritzker — have released personal state-

ments on Gay’s resignation.

Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment for this article.

When allegations of plagiarism — which have continued to surface — were first reported, the Corporation and its presidential search process that selected Gay were further shoved into the national spotlight.

Lasting only five months, the search that promoted Gay to the University’s top post marked the shortest presidential selection process in 70 years — and it led to the shortest presidential tenure in Harvard’s history.

Amid the mounting uncertainty surrounding Gay’s leadership, two members of the Harvard Corporation — Tracy P. Palandjian ’93 and outgoing University Treasurer Paul J. Finnegan ’75 — met with leaders of the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard on Dec. 19.

Though the group did not discuss Gay’s resignation, according to the four faculty in attendance, two weeks later, she

announced her exit from the University’s top post.

As public scrutiny of Harvard begins to shift from Gay to the Corporation that selected her, some prominent alumni and donors have advocated for changes to the board — including new personnel.

In a Monday post on X prior to Gay’s resignation, Bill A. Ackman ’88 — one of Gay’s harshest critics and another major donor to the University — called for an “immediate investigation” into the Harvard Corporation. In particular, Ackman took aim at the board’s handling of the plagiarism allegations against Gay. In an interview with The Crimson, Peter L. Malkin ’55 — a major Harvard donor and the namesake of the Malkin Athletic Center — called for members of the Corporation that selected Gay to step down.

“I do think that the relatively hasty action by the Corporation in the search process indicated to me that not a full review was made of qualified candidates who are out there,” Malkin said.

Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ‘81 delivering the opening remarks at Claudine Gay’s presidential inaugeration in September. ADDISON Y. LIU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Kenneth G. Lipper, a former member of the Executive Committee of the Committee of University Resources — a group consisting of people who have donated at least $1 million to Harvard — urged the Univer-

sity to focus on the future and Garber’s path forward as interim president.

“When we suffer a great loss,” Lipper said, “we must analyze the whys, repair what we can, and accelerate into a fresh

performance phase reflective of our 300-year history of scholarly achievement and national leadership.” emma.haidar@thecrimson.com cam.kettles@thecrimson.com

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON JANUARY 3, 2024

5

ALAN M. GARBER

Meet Harvard’s New Interim President IN THE INTERIM. Following Claudine Gay’s resignation on Tuesday, University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 became Harvard’s interim president.

er,” Garber wrote. “I am confident we will overcome challenges we face and build a brighter future for Harvard.”

Garber’s long resume — in addition to being provost, he served for 25 years as a professor at Stanford University and led Stanford’s Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research — has long fueled speculation that he could be a contender for Harvard’s presidency.

BY THOMAS J. METE CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

­H

arvard Provost Alan M. Garber ’76, who has served in his role since 2011, became Harvard’s interim president following Claudine Gay’s resignation on Tuesday.

Garber, an economist and physician who has served as provost under three successive Harvard presidents, will bring an insider’s outlook and years of administrative experience to the role at a moment of immense uncertainty, with Gay’s resignation capping off a semester of scandals and crises across the University.

The elevation of Garber suggests a desire from the Harvard Corporation, Harvard’s top governing body, to install a steady hand at the top of the University as it launches its second presidential search in less than three years under national scrutiny.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Alan’s broad and deep experience, incisive judgment, collaborative style, and extraordinary institutional knowledge to carry forward key priorities and to guide the university through this interim period,” the Corporation wrote in an email to affiliates Tuesday.

As students return to campus at the end of January, Garber will be tasked with mending divisions on campus fueled by the Israel-Hamas war and exacerbated by national backl a s h against b o t h Gay and pro -Palestine student organizers.

Raised by a Jewish family, Garber expressed regret about the University’s initial response to the war in Israel and Gaza during an interview with The Crimson in November, calling the backlash to the University’s response the most serious crisis Harvard has faced during his over 12 year tenure — including the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I certainly have regrets about the first statement,” he said. “Our goal is to ensure that our community is safe, secure, and feels well supported — and that first statement did not succeed in that regard.”

In October, Garber addressed Harvard Hillel over Shabbat dinner where he emphasized the importance of free speech and condemned the use of the pro-Palestine slogan “from the river to the sea.”

In a statement to The Crimson Tuesday, Garber wrote that

I am confident we will overcome challenges we face and build a brighter future for Harvard.”

Alan M. Garber ’76 Interim University President

Alan M. Garber ‘76 became Harvard’s interim president Tuesday, bringing years of administrative experience. TIMOTHY R. O’MEARA — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Alan M. Garber ‘76 with Claudine Gay at the Class of 2019’s Commencement. KATHRYN S. KUHAR — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

I certainly have regrets about the first statement. Our goal is to ensure that our community is safe, secure and feels well supported — and that first statement did not succeed in that regard.

Alan M. Garber ’76 Interim University President

he had “deep respect and admiration” for Gay and hoped his tenure as interm president would help “heal and strengthen a university that I cherish.”

“There is much to be done, and while today has been a difficult day, I know what this community can accomplish togeth-

University Provost Garber pictured at an April 2022 Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study event. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Garber speaking at the opening ceremony of the Hate Ends Now touring exhibit in April. CLAIRE YUAN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

He was a likely internal candidate during the 2017 presidential search which ultimately selected former president Lawrence S. Bacow. During the most recent search that ended in Gay’s selection, Garber told The Crimson he was happy in his position as provost.

Garber will be the first Harvard College alum to serve as president since Nathan M. Pusey, class of 1928, who was president from 1953 to 1971.

Graduating from the College in 1976 summa cum laude in Economics, Garber later received his masters and doctorate in Economics from Harvard while concurrently pursuing a medical degree from Stanford. He remained a clinical fellow at Harvard until 1986, when he joined Stanford’s faculty as an assistant professor.

Over the course of his academic career, Garber published over 150 academic papers and has accumulated nearly 20,000 citations for his work bridging the fields of medicine and economics, beginning with his 1982 Harvard dissertation titled “Costs and Control of Antibiotic Resistance.”

Garber returned to Harvard in 2011 when he was appointed provost by former president Drew Gilpin Faust. Over his long tenure, Garber worked closely with administrative leaders, managed Harvard academic activities and policies, and oversaw the Harvard libraries, Harvard University Health Services, and over a dozen University departments.

As provost, Garber has also played an integral role in several high-profile dean searches and has often led negotiations with unions representing Harvard employees.

Since his 2011 appointment, Garber has served on the board of directors of Exelixis, Inc. and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, earning him more than $2.7 million as of 2019, according to company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Garber annually files conflict of interest forms with the University disclosing his affiliations.

Garber is married to Anne M. Yahanda, an oncologist, with whom he has four children. He is also an elected member of the Association of American Physicians, the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In a post on X Tuesday afternoon, former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers, who was critical of Gay’s response to the Israel-Hamas war but publicly backed her presidency last month, praised Garber’s selection.

“Alan Garber, who is universally liked, admired, and respected, is a superb choice as Interim President,” Summers wrote. “At this complex juncture, there will be much to reflect on as Harvard sets its course forward.” thomas.mete@thecrimson.com

6

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

EDITORIAL

JANUARY 3, 2024

OP-ED

Go Tell It On the Mountain, Claudine Gay

BY KYLA N. GOLDING

­J

EMILY N. DIAL—CRIMSON DESIGNER

STAFF EDITORIAL

Harvard Must Learn From Gay’s Troubled Tenure IMPERFECT PRESIDENT. Claudine Gay’s short and troubled tenure lays bare the cracks in Harvard’s present foundation. Now, we must work to fix them.

BY THE CRIMSON EDITORIAL BOARD

­B

arely a year after then-FAS Dean Claudine Gay learned she would hold the highest position in American academia, she has resigned from her position as president of Harvard University.

After months of rancor and turmoil, Harvard again confronts the question: What comes next? On one hand, we look forward to a new beginning.

We are tired of non-stop national news coverage, of personal and often racist attacks against our president, of bad-faith journalism sensationalizing our school, and of red herrings that distract from real, tangible issues.

We also know The Crimson’s incredible team of news writers are tired, figuratively and literally. We commend their diligent work covering our university these past few months, including in recent weeks over their winter break.

On the other hand, we cannot simply proceed and forget. Concrete, enduring realities brought us here and will remain with us long into the tenure of whoever may succeed Gay. Harvard’s future — and the future of higher education writ large — demands that we respond to them with courage and probity as we go forth into this new day.

Claudine Gay’s short and troubled tenure lays bare the cracks in Harvard’s present foundation. Political opportunists exploited them.

Now, we must fix them.

We will remember Gay’s tenure as imperfect. It was punctuated by tumult, controversy, and conflict on our campus. We wrote that she was imperfect in her congressional testimony, and we criticized her for plagiarizing — though seemingly without intention — in several of her scholarly works. We felt the hurt of these past several months and, listening to the arguments they brought, we understand the sentiment that, as Gay said in her farewell email, it was “in the best interests of Harvard” that she resign.

But make no mistake: This resignation is no incrimination of Gay as an academic fraud, an antisemite, or the wrong hire at the time.

Gay launched her academic career with glittering accolades, earned tenure early at Stanford University, came to Harvard and — unquestionably by virtue of her ability — rose rapidly through its administrative ranks. Mistakes in her response to Oct. 7 and sloppiness in her academic record prematurely ended her presidency.

The criticisms she faced had merit, but their merits did not end her presidency — a campaign of ugly and racist political opportunism did.

In the last several months, we watched as the same outrage artists who have sought to discredit public education with false accusations about Critical Race Theory trained their sights on Gay, Harvard’s first Black president.

We watched, pained, as these politicians and activists would pivot from legitimate criticisms of her performance to racist and baseless smears of her character and ability.

We struggle to imagine their attacks would

have been so vitriolic were the president in question a white man. Worse, the foot soldiers of this campaign continue to reveal that they use racism to cynically further their assaults on higher education and racial equity.

Earlier this week, the Board observed how Christopher F. Rufo had admitted on X that his intention in leveling the plagiarism allegations against Gay was to bring her down. Today, in an echo of Rufo’s post, Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.) took no time at all to convert the news about Gay to fundraising fodder for her fans.

“I will always deliver results,” she wrote on X. “Our robust Congressional investigation will continue to move forward to expose the rot in our most ‘prestigious’ higher education institutions and deliver accountability to the American people.”

As we said with Rufo, we now say again with Stefanik: Listen to these extremists when they tell you directly and unambiguously who they are and what they are doing.

This is an assault on higher education. It employs the cheapest, most foul tactics American politics has to offer. And it will not end with Claudine Gay’s presidency.

The motives of these attacks do not detract from genuine criticisms of Gay’s tenure. We also criticized Gay — at times, sharply — and we know that many others did so in good faith.

Indeed, we hope the standards of academic integrity to which Gay was held will be enforced on every scholar, student, and university leader without regard to their race, gender, and politics.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to single out the bad-faith actors who never really cared about the substance of the criticisms against Gay, because they are not going away. As Harvard considers what must come next, it must do so with an eye on the dire and continuing threat of this assault.

For months, the world has wanted to control what happens at Harvard.

Pundits, politicians, hedge fund managers, and others demanded Gay’s resignation.

Now that they’ve received it, we say: enough.

It is time that the University reassert its sovereignty, learn from the lessons of these sordid months, and refocus on the perspectives that come from within its community — students, especially — rather than those shouted from far beyond.

These reforms must begin with the process for making reforms in the first place.

Public trust in elite institutions like our own has long been in decline. In many ways, it produced the controversy with Gay that now steepens the nosedive. To stanch this existentially threatening trend, Harvard must commit to public accountability and transparency.

That starts at the top. As Gay has borne the crushing weight of this saga, the secretive Harvard Corporation has kept largely to the shadows. To fulfill its mandate to serve the wider world, the University’s governing body must step into the light by engaging actively with the University community and the general public.

It can begin by setting the record straight about its part in this saga. The past several weeks have surfaced concerns that the Corporation threatened to sue the New York Post to cover up the plagiarism allegations and have drawn new attention to the unusual brevity of the search process it ran to select her as president.

The Corporation owes the nation insight into both of these unanswered questions.

More fundamentally, it should consider how it can alter its structure and practices to embrace transparency, beginning with the selection process for Gay’s successor.

The Corporation does not have a boss. Only the University community and the public can hold it to account. That requires it pull back the curtain.

Between interim President Alan M. Garber ’76 and whomever the Corporation chooses to succeed him, the University must redouble its commitment to protecting its students and cultivating an environment of academic freedom and free speech that can persist through even the most trying times.

One of the lessons of this episode is the danger posed by conflicts that turn our campus against itself.

Too often, the University’s response to the campus events following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks have only served to divide us further, reproducing a binary national discourse that opposes Jews and Palestianians and flattens their perspectives.

We see this fallacy in Gay’s move to create a committee on antisemitism that did not represent a diversity of views in the Jewish community while failing to treat the bigotry and doxxing that so many of our Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim peers faced.

So often, these forms of hate depend on one another and operate on the same logic. The interim administration and the one to follow should heed this by rectifying these mistakes and responding to hatred in all its forms with a focus on unity and collaboration.

At the same time, Harvard must not allow free discourse to become a casualty in its efforts against hate. This low point in the University’s history cannot become a justification to restrict student expression, non-violent protest in particular.

By pursuing policies that soothe division rather than accentuate it and by protecting controversial student speakers from doxxing and intimidation, Harvard can create the conditions for student discourse to be vibrant, empathetic, and constructive.

The events of the past several months also teach us that opinions should be the province of people on campus — not the University itself.

While it can be attractive to do away with institutional neutrality to take stances on issues that elicit little disagreement — like Harvard’s embrace of Ukraine following Russia’s widely-condemned invasion — these actions elicit demands that the University respond to every major political issue. Harvard’s reckless statement-releasing directly produced the cavalcade of failed emails from President Gay that drew such national attention, to the great detriment of our campus discourse.

As it walks into its next chapter, Harvard must reckon with these issues to reach a final position on institutional neutrality.

–This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

ust over a year ago, as the news broke that Claudine Gay was to become Harvard’s 30th president, I prayed that from the mountaintop she could see a promised land — one that the arduous journey up the mountain has made difficult for me, for us, to envision. Because when Black women win, the dream for a promised land — for liberation and life — is alive. Or so I thought.

Once upon a time, I was just another Harvard applicant. Just another Harvard admit. Just another Harvard student. I naively thought that I had arrived at the bottom of a mountain whose top would introduce me to legacy, a potential for freedom, and belonging. As I started the climb, my strength was shaky and I wrestled with the fact that the odds of having my own happy (living and human) ending were stacked against me.

Coming to Harvard gave me a hope for the future, one that the world too often robs from Black women — that we can succeed, we can breathe, we can be. But as we fight to the mountaintop for a view of the promised land, what will we see?

As the institution’s first Black and second female president, the stakes of scrutiny for Claudine Gay were raised. Her testimony before Congress on antisemitism resulted in political and campus uproar, the integrity of her scholarship has been called into question, all the while she faces looming racialized threats and attacks on her character. Many doubt her dedication to combating hate and to sustaining the pedagogical mission of the university — but the irony is that the bedrock of being Black and woman is to know nothing more intimately than fighting and surviving when the studies of your stories are deemed unimportant, and hate and violence are your everyday reality.

As the years have gone by, the world and the University have shown me that I am not just another Harvard student. And no, it’s not because I am determined, nor is it because I am exceptional, but because I am Black and I am a woman.

Throughout my ascent, I have been met with the sharpness of framing my own painful resignations as powerful acts of resistance, the slippage every time I lose a scholarly ancestor, and the stream of blood, sweat, and tears poured into a rebirth of a cultural rhythm. Not to mention simultaneously trying to keep my balance as the world rocked when Covid-19 took our loved ones at disproportionate rates, when Black women died and the world didn’t cry, and when conflicts at home and abroad challenged our senses of safety and community.

But the way up the mountain almost seemed worth it as I watched Claudine Gay ascend to the highest Harvard chair of all last year. And for a moment, I — and my Black sisters on Harvard’s campus and beyond — rejoiced. We went to tell it on the mountain, over the hills, and everywhere.

We knew that the higher (now former) President Gay went, the colder the world would be. That’s often how it goes for Black women. She would continue to face, on a bigger and more public scale, the frigidity of a racist, sexist, imperialist, inequitable world. So, I asked for nuanced considerations of the responsibilities and legacies she carried. I called for love, grace, and protection on her behalf. I wanted more for her, as I wanted for the rest of the world. But for a second I forgot that the multilayered texture of the Black woman’s life meant that even when we are crippled by the cold, we face a scorching heat — a fire from within and around that requires us to move seamlessly through rocky terrain.

Just over one year after that prayerful rejoicement, as Claudine resigns from her chair, I am confronted with the fact that most of the world did not pray alongside us all those months ago. Because these places, and those high up spaces, are simply not made for Black women to win.

Today is not just about a Harvard president and the position’s shortest historical tenure. It is not about disagreements over geopolitical correctness nor honor in scholarship. The resignation of Claudine Gay is a heart-wrenching display that at the mountaintop for the Black woman, there is no promised land. No liberation, no forgiveness, no love, no protection. As if surviving the cruel cold misogynoir of the world while simultaneously being burned by the heat emanating through the intensified pressure Black women con-

“

As the years have gone by, the world and the University have shown me that I am not just another Harvard student. And no, it’s not because I am determined, nor is it because I am exceptional, but because I am Black and I am a woman.

stantly face isn’t enough to conquer; the higher up she goes the thinner the altitude gets.

At the mountaintop, the world robs the Black woman of her breath such that the only option is to let the suffocation kill her or to let it kill her dreams. And as she falls from the peak, the spirits and dreams of success, liberation, progress, and livelihood of the Black women she carries with her — across generations and diasporas — fall too.

Today, I do not rejoice at Claudine Gay’s resignation. Instead, I fall to my knees at our collective resignation in the Black woman’s fight to climb to a mountaintop from which we might truly be able to see a promised land.

–Kyla N. Golding ’24, a Crimson Editorial editor, is a History of Science and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality concentrator in Adams House.

EDITORIAL

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

JANUARY 3, 2024

7

OP-ED

The Corporation Must Rethink Its Approach to Governance WITH GAY’S RESIGNATION, The Harvard Corporation must weigh whether it has come time to change its approach to its essential fiduciary responsibilities.

BY JEFFEREY S. FLIER

­O

n Dec. 19, I attended a dinner conversation initiated by two members of the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, with several leaders of the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard to discuss issues pertaining to CAFH’s mission.

Surprisingly, the dinner drew public attention, and while much of the popular discourse about it has concerned what was said — and how it was mischaracterized — this piece addresses a more fundamental matter, even more urgent now that University President Claudine Gay has resigned: What might that dinner and subsequent discussions teach us about the role of the Corporation in the current state of Harvard University and the path forward?

Universities — like other corporations and non-profit organizations — require formal governing bodies to oversee those responsible for day-today management and operations. Harvard has two such governing boards. The Harvard Corporation is the smaller and more powerful board, while the Board of Overseers is a larger body of elected alumni who provide counsel to the Corporation on various matters.

According to its web page, the Corporation “exercises fiduciary responsibility with regard to the University’s academic, financial and physical resources and overall wellbeing,” which includes hiring the University president, approving budgets, and overseeing the endowment.

Supported by an Office of the Governing Boards, the Corporation operates in a secretive manner and issues few if any public statements. As dean of Harvard Medical School, a position I held from 2007 to 2016, I expected I would come to know the Corporation well. I was wrong.

Though I met regularly with then-University President Drew G. Faust, I quickly learned that the Corporation — the only fiduciary body tasked with oversight of the Medical School — had precious little

Given the University’s extraordinary and well-deserved reputation for excellence, this weakness in its approach to governance appeared unlikely to be questioned. That situation unexpectedly changed in recent weeks, with campus turmoil after Oct. 7 and plagiarism allegations against President Gay. In light of their low public profile, it was surprising when two Corporation members asked to speak directly with CAFH leadership over dinner, but, happily, the rapidly-scheduled multiple-hour discussion was collegial and frank, seeming to leave everyone satisfied that we had engaged in a respectful interchange of ideas.

Taking our dinner as a model, the key question that now arises is this: What might the Corporation do in response to the major issues that my colleagues and I brought to the table for discussion, especially now that President Gay has resigned?

Five high-level recommendations published in separate articles by professor Steven A. Pinker and myself were among the main subjects of the discussion.

Our recommendations, which represent our personal views rather than the official position of the CAFH, include developing a new university policy on free speech and academic freedom; developing a policy and clarifying existing policies to proscribe actions that disrupt school operations, academic activities and other events; adopting a policy of institutional neutrality on social and political issues; reviewing DEI programs to identify elements that may improperly restrict free speech; and reviewing the state of viewpoint diversity and approaches to enhancing discussion across difference.

The Corporation is the only group with the authority to make such weighty decisions, and adopting these recommendations would require extensive discussion by the president and the full Corporation as well as engagement with many stakeholders.

As the Corporation considers these and other responses to its current challenges, it should also weigh whether it has come time to change its approach to its essential fiduciary responsibilities.

Those outside the Corporation — the public, University affiliates, and, yes, even school deans

— have little awareness of how it conducts its critical work. Beyond the specific recommendations from professor Pinker and myself, the Corporation should step into its role as leader of the nation’s foremost university by committing to a more active engagement with the general public and University stakeholders alike.

Harvard is facing an unprecedented crisis in confidence, and responsibility for Harvard’s performance ultimately falls on the Corporation.

As it considers how to respond, it must also conduct an objective examination of how this crisis evolved and use it to guide this reset of sorts. How it goes about choosing a new president will be an important first test of their response.

As a longstanding member of the faculty who cares deeply about its ongoing success, I stand with most members of the community in being ready to assist them.

–Jeffrey S. Flier is the Higginson Professor of Physiology and Medicine and was the dean of Harvard Medical School from 2007 to 2016.

“

Harvard is facing an unprecedented crisis in confidence.

involvement in its operation.

As I recall, I met with the Corporation at their request only once a year for between 30 and 45 minutes. Several months before the date I was assigned to appear, I was asked to develop an eight-to-ten slide presentation on the state of the school that was, to my surprise, pre-reviewed and often modified by individuals in the Office of the Governing Boards. I received little or no feedback from the Corporation subsequent to these brief annual presentations.

To supplement this hands-off approach to governance, HMS and several other Harvard schools have established non-fiduciary ‘boards’ of prominent people with expertise in a diversity of relevant areas for the purpose of providing advice, feedback, and philanthropic support. The HMS Board of Fellows is an outstanding group, from which I obtained much valuable advice and support.

Still, such a non-fiduciary board cannot substitute for the lack of meaningful input from a distant and lightly-involved Corporation.

EMILY N. DIAL—CRIMSON DESIGNER

OP-ED

To Move Forward, Harvard Must Refocus on Its Mission

BY BOAZ BARAK

­D

espite writing two open letters and a blog post criticizing our University leadership’s response to the events of Oct. 7, I take no joy in now-former President Claudine Gay’s resignation.

Only three months into her tenure, President Gay was thrust into an incredibly challenging situation — and while she has made several missteps, she did many things right.

Her Oct. 27 speech at Harvard Hillel was powerful and moving.

Many of us resonated with her definition of antisemitism as a “lie [that] has taken many forms, from Holocaust denial to the blood libel … to the denial of the Jewish people’s historical ties to the land of Israel.”

I was also pleased to meet Gay at the Dec. 8 interfaith vigil, organized by the Harvard Chaplains, that included speeches by both Hillel Rabbi Getzel Davis and Muslim Chaplain Khalil Abdur-Rashid, among others.

It was an essential step toward the healing that our campus sorely needs.

In her letter, Gay announced that she resigned so that Harvard could “focus on the institution rather than any individual.” Indeed, our challenges are institutional rather than personal. Members of Congress and the general public were rightly angered when three university presidents, Gay included, gave legalistic and convoluted answers to the question of whether calls for the genocide of Jews violate university policy during a Dec. 5, hearing in the House of Representatives.

The public’s response may have been very different if Harvard had a reputation for ironclad protection of freedom of speech. But this is not the world we live in.

In 2017, Harvard rescinded the admission of at least ten students for posting offensive memes in a private group chat. In 2018, a Harvard employee was put on leave a week after a video was posted on social media of her asking her neighbor if she lived in affordable housing. In 2019, Harvard declined to renew the appointment of Winthrop Faculty Deans Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie R. Robinson after Sullivan chose to take on Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who was accused of multiple rapes (and subsequently convicted on a number of charges), as a legal client. And in 2023, Harvard scored last out of 248 schools in the yearly free speech ranking put out by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonpartisan watchdog advocating for free speech at American educational institutions and broader society.

Against this backdrop, Harvard’s actions in regard to campus speech following Oct. 7, were more than a little incongruous. On that day, Hamas terrorists slaughtered families, raped women, and kidnapped many civilians, ranging from a 9-month-old baby to an 85-year-old great-grandmother.

The infamous student group statement released the same day, which called Israel “entirely responsible” for the attacks, was discussed ad nauseam, but Harvard students’ social media posts were much worse. Students celebrated the “decolonization struggle” and a student posted anonymously that the “US just cant support

Palestine bc we got too many damn jews in state supporting our economy.” In a pro-Palestinian protest just a week after the attack (and before Israel’s ground offensive), a student speaker announced his “full support of the Palestine resistance” and said that “marginalized people … are always demanded to justify their means of liberation … they’re not terrorists.”

Since then, protests have regularly included slogans that many — myself included — interpret as calls for violence and ethnic cleansing, such as “globalize the intifada” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” (sometimes with its more explicit version in Arabic, which ends with “Palestine will be Arab”). Yet, Harvard has never shut down any of these protests. Somehow, when Jews were involved, Harvard rediscovered its commitment to protecting speech even when it is offensive.

Can we find a way to move forward from this, and balance freedom of speech with safety and inclusion? I believe that the answer is yes. In a recent op-ed published in the Washington Post, Danielle Allen suggested that we can.

For starters, Harvard administration should focus on the form of speech or protest rather than the content.

A disruption to a class or invited talk is unacceptable, no matter how worthy the cause. On the other hand, we should learn to accept and be okay with the fact that there will be opinions expressed on this campus that we find offensive or even abhorrent.

I strongly disagree with almost all of Kenneth Roth’s comments on Israel, but his experience and perspective make his presence valuable to

our campus.

Like Allen, Psychology professor Steven A. Pinker called on Harvard to protect freedom of speech and follow institutional neutrality without tolerating violence or disruptions. This does not mean giving up on inclusion.

As Allen explains, “DEI bureaucracies have been responsible for numerous assaults on common sense, but the values of lowercase-i inclusion and lowercase-d diversity remain foundational to healthy democracy.”

With the focus on rancor and missteps, we can sometimes forget what makes Harvard a special place.

Every day, I am grateful for the privilege of spending time with our immensely talented students, who come from many different backgrounds and often teach me as much as I do them.

I am thankful for my past and present colleagues who made discoveries that reshaped our understanding of the world and improved countless lives.

For over three centuries, Harvard has been a powerful force for scientific and intellectual advancement in this nation and the world. To continue this mission, we must regain the trust of both our own community and broader society.

I share President Gay’s hope that we can “recommit ourselves to the excellence, the openness, and the independence that are crucial to what our university stands for — and to our capacity to serve the world.”

–Boaz Barak is a Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science.

8

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

JANUARY 3, 2024

JULIAN J. GIORDANO, MILES J. HERSZENHORN, AND HELEN Y. WU— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHERS, SAMI E. TURNER — CRIMSON DESIGNER

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH

President Gay Resigned. What Comes Next?

A NEW SEARCH. With Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation, a lengthy search process now awaits the University.

BY NATALIE K. BANDURA AND SALLY E. EDWARDS CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

­J

ust over six months after inaugurating its 30th president, Harvard must once again search for a new leader.

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation Tuesday — following months of turmoil at Harvard over tensions around the Israel-Hamas war, Gay’s disastrous congressional testimony, and growing plagiarism allegations — puts the school in the uncomfortable position of conducting its second presidential search in just two years.

In an email Tuesday afternoon confirming Gay’s resignation, the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest gov-

erning body — said the presidential search process will “begin in due course,” though they did not specify any timeline or announce the formation of a search committee.

“We will be in further touch about the process, which will include broad engagement and consultation with the Harvard community in the time ahead,” the Corporation wrote.

The presidential search, already a momentous affair, carries particular weight following Gay’s resignation as the Corporation attempts to regain the confidence of Harvard affiliates, alumni, and donors who have said the body erred in choosing — and defending — Gay. Members of the Corporation have also faced calls to resign in recent weeks.

Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber ’76 will serve as interim president until Gay’s successor is chosen, the Corporation said. Garber, who has served as provost for 12 years under three successive presi-

dents, represents a safe interim choice for the Corporation as the school navigates one of the most fraught periods in its history.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Alan’s broad and deep experience, incisive judgment, collaborative style, and

“

tion’s 12 members — as well as certain members of Harvard’s Board of Overseers, the University’s second-highest governing body — are expected to serve on a search committee to select the next president.

In previous searches, the outgoing president — who is

We are fortunate to have someone of Alan’s broad and deep experience, incisive judgement, collaborative style, and extraordinary institutional knowledge.

The Harvard Corporation

extraordinary institutional knowledge to carry forward key priorities and to guide the university through this interim period,” the Corporation wrote.

Nearly all of the Corpora-

also a member of the Corporation — does not join the committee seeking their successor, though it remains unclear if Garber will join the committee.

Past presidential searches

have been enormous and global undertakings, likely involving input from Harvard faculty, students, former and current administrators, and higher education experts.

The searches typically last six months or longer, though the five-month search process that selected Gay was the shortest in more than 70 years.

While past searches have included candidates who are not Harvard affiliates, every president in the last 30 years has held at least an honorary Harvard degree.

In the past, the search committee has sought suggestions and nominations from Harvard affiliates — sending hundreds of thousands of letters and emails and speaking directly with alumni across the country.

Formal and informal nominations in past searches have yielded hundreds of candidates for consideration, which were then narrowed down to a short list in the months leading up to

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the final decision. Candidates face an intensive interview process, after which the Board of Overseers must approve the final selection.

The Crimson previously reported that the most recent selection process reviewed over 600 candidates before selecting Gay, who was then serving as the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. natalie.bandura@thecrimson.com sally.edwards@thecrimson.com

THC Read more at THECRIMSON.COM

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON JANUARY 3, 2024

9

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION

The Rise and Fall of Harvard President Gay SIX MONTHS. Following a joyous selection, Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned after only her first semester in office.

Allegations of Plagiarism But it was allegations of plagiarism which emerged following Gay’s congressional testimony that may have dealt the final blow to her presidency.

Before the allegations were made public, the University attempted to prevent the New York Post from publishing an article about the charges of plagiarism, days before opening their own investigation into the claims.

That investigation later concluded that Gay’s scholarship contained multiple instances

BY EMMA H. HAIDAR AND CAM E. KETTLES CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

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ix months ago, Claudine Gay was celebrated as an obvious choice to serve as Harvard’s 30th president. On Tuesday, she resigned, ending the tenure of Harvard’s first Black president less than 200 days after it began.

Gay announced her resignation in an email to Harvard affiliates Tuesday afternoon, though a source close to the former president said she reached the decision last week. University Provost Alan M. Gaber ’76 will act as interim president until a search selects a permanent successor.

Gay’s brief presidency, a historic first, will be remembered as taking place during a particularly difficult and controversial moment in the University’s 388-year history.

Gay’s first national crisis was confronting the future of Harvard’s admissions policies after the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action just two days before she assumed office. But it was the University’s response to the Israel-Hamas war and the emergence of allegations of plagiarism that would prove fatal for Gay’s presidency.

Gay first faced calls to resign just days after she marked her 100th day as Harvard’s president. Though Gay — and Harvard — tried to move past the numerous controversies she faced over her brief tenure, the criticism ultimately proved impossible to brush off.

In the weeks leading up to her resignation, Gay’s personal scholarly integrity and the merits upon which she was selected to serve as Harvard’s president have all been called into question.

“

Attacks against Claudine Gay have been unrelenting & the biases unmasked. This protects no one.

Janai Nelson NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President

Claudine Gay was inaugurated as Havard’s 30th president in September. ADDISON Y. LIU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Before the Presidency When Gay was officially announced as Harvard’s next president in December 2022, her appointment was seen as the be-

“

We are confident Claudine will be a thoughtful, principled, and inspiring president for all of Harvard.

Penny S. Pritzker ’81 Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow

ginning of a hopeful new era for the University. Many believed Harvard found its leader for at least the next decade.

Gay was born in New York City to Haitian immigrant parents, and attended Phillips Exeter Academy — an elite private school — before college.

After graduating from Stanford, Gay completed her Ph.D. at Harvard, receiving the Toppan Prize for best political science dissertation in 1998.

The dissertation would later come under scrutiny as Gay faced allegations of plagiarism toward the end of her tenure. She requested three corrections to her dissertation in December, following a review by the Harvard Corporation and an independent panel.

Since writing her dissertation, Gay has published 11 peer-reviewed academic articles, two of which she has also requested corrections on.

After joining Harvard’s faculty in 2006, Gay rose quickly in Harvard’s ranks, rising from dean of Social Sciences to dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences — a position widely considered the most important deanship at the University — to president all within a decade.

As FAS dean, Gay steered the faculty through numerous sexual misconduct scandals, the Covid-19 pandemic, and championed the development and expansion of ethnic studies.

“I am also filled with hope for our students, who can now take from Dean Gay as president a

Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 and Gay when she was first announced in December 2022. J. SELLERS HILL — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

shining example of what ethical, impactful leadership can be,” wrote Taeku Lee, a Government professor hired in 2022 as part of Gay’s ethnic studies cluster hire, in a statement to The Crimson last year.

When Gay was tapped to lead Harvard after the shortest presidential search in the University’s history, her appointment came as no surprise to her colleagues.

Having previously occupied the most powerful deanship at the University, she was a top contender for the presidency.

“We are confident Claudine will be a thoughtful, principled, and inspiring president for all of Harvard, dedicated to helping each of our individual schools thrive, as well as fostering creative connections among them,” Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny S. Pritzker ’81 wrote in a December 2022 email announcing Gay’s appointment.

While Gay faced a looming Supreme Court decision on affirmative action and the task of spearheading fundraising post-Covid 19, her selection as president was widely considered a sign of positive change in the coming years.

Israel-Palestine Backlash When Gay assumed the presiden-

cy on July 1, she was tasked with maintaining Harvard’s commitment to diversity after a Supreme Court’s ruling effectively ended the use of race-conscious admissions practices.

“Our commitment to that work remains steadfast, is essential to who we are, and the mission that we are here to advance,” Gay said in a video message following the decision.

Rethinking Harvard’s admissions practices was Gay’s first major challenge as president. But the landmark Supreme Court ruling against Harvard would later pale in comparison to crises Gay would face just months later.

On Oct. 7, Hamas — which the U.S. designates a terrorist organization — launched an attack on Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 people. Israel responded by declaring war on Hamas, and has since killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza.

In the days following the attack, eyes turned toward Harvard when more than 30 student groups signed onto a statement from the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee holding Israel “entirely responsible” for the violence that occurred on Oct. 7.

Harvard’s first official state-

Gay’s testimony before Congress marked the beginning of the end for her presidency. MIILES J. HERSZENHORN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

ment, two days after Hamas’ initial attack, was widely criticized as being too ambiguous and too slow. Gay’s administration never fully recovered from the backlash to its initial statement.

Garber, who became interim president upon Gay’s resignation on Tuesday, acknowledged that the first statement did not go far enough in an interview with The Crimson on Nov. 9.

In a slew of subsequent statements, Gay took a more definitive stance against Hamas and the student groups’ statement, but also alienated multiple student groups and professors by condemning the phrase “from the river to the sea” as campus tensions continued to rise.

Then, Gay appeared before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Dec. 5 for a hearing about antisemitism on college campuses, in what has now become known as one of the most damaging congressional testimonies in years.

In response to a line of questioning from Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.), Gay said that calls for genocide of Jewish people would not automatically be in violation of Harvard’s code of conduct, instead insisting that it depended on the context.

Her response, for which she

later apologized, went viral just hours after the hearing, and amplified calls for Gay’s resignation.

Less than a month later, just one of the three presidents who testified at the hearing — MIT President Sally A. Kornbluth — remains in her position.

The Crimson also reported that the Corporation’s former Senior Fellow William F. Lee ’72 played an outsized role in Gay’s testimony preparation alongside other lawyers from WilmerHale, a law firm where Lee is a partner. WilmerHale’s involvement in preparing Gay for her testimony sidelined external public relations and communications experts.

After the testimony, the House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for Gay’s resignation and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce launched an investigation into both the administration’s response to antisemitism and later, allegations of plagiarism against Gay. After staying silent for a week, the Corporation, Harvard’s top governing body, released a statement of unanimous support for Gay, following what they said was “extensive deliberation.”

Gay’s position was temporarily secured.

where quotation marks or authors’ names needed to be added.

While the allegations themselves ranged from no more than three repeated words to numerous repeated lines without attribution, the conservative activists at their root made close to 50 plagiarism allegations in total.

Christopher F. Rufo, a rightwing activist known for popularizing — and demonizing — the phrase “Critical Race Theory,” was one of the first to publish the allegations online, claiming in a Substack post with journalist Christopher Brunet that Gay had plagiarized portions of her dissertation on Dec. 10. Rufo wrote in a post on X that the announcement, which came as the Corporation met to deliberate on Gay’s fate, was timed so it would do the most damage to Gay and her presidency.

Additional allegations of plagiarism followed soon after in reports from the Washington Free Beacon and the New York Post, calling into question articles from across Gay’s academic career.

After Tuesday’s announcement, Rufo wrote on X that he would next attempt to “abolish the DEI bureaucracy, expand viewpoint diversity on the faculty, adopt the Kalven principle, restore colorblind equality,” referencing the 1967 University of Chicago “Kalven report” which recommends institutional neutrality.

Both Gay and the Corporation addressed the effect race had on Gay’s treatment in their statements Tuesday. Gay wrote that she has been “subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus” and the Corporation added that she had privately been the subject of “repugnant and in some cases racist vitriol directed at her through disgraceful emails and phone calls.”

Numerous public figures have since questioned if the level of scrutiny on Gay’s scholarly work would have been as intense if she were not a Black woman in the University’s most prestigious and high profile position.

In an X post following Gay’s resignation, author Ibram X. Kendi wrote that the backlash against Gay was fueled by racism and criticized media outlets for platforming such claims.

“The question is whether all these people would have investigated, surveilled, harassed, written about, and attacked her in the same way if the Harvard president in this case would have been White,” he wrote.

“I. Think. Not,” Kendi added.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund President Janai Nelson also wrote on X that Gay’s resignation sets a “dangerous precedent” for higher education.

“Attacks against Claudine Gay have been unrelenting & the biases unmasked,” Nelson wrote.

“This protects no one,” she added.

Gay served as Harvard president for 185 days. emma.haidar@thecrimson.com cam.kettles@thecrimson.com

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THE HARVARD CRIMSON

NEWS

JANUARY 3, 2024

Former Harvard President Claudine Gay speaking with students protesting at one of several ice cream social events she hosted upon taking office in July. JULIAN J. GIORDIANO—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

STUDENT REACTIONS

Students Share Mixed Views on Gay’s Exit MIXED REACTIONS. While some Harvard students say Gay’s resignation sets a ‘bad precedent,’ others say it is long overdue.

BY MICHELLE N. AMPONSAH CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

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arvard students had mixed reactions to the resignation of former University President Claudine Gay — while some viewed it as necessary to uphold academic integrity, others saw it as a surrender to influential donors and political actors.

Gay’s decision to step down from the presidency Tuesday afternoon cemented her tenure as the shortest in the University’s history and bookended a stormy semester in which she faced calls to resign over her controversial congressional testimony and allegations of plagiarism.

In a Tuesday email to affiliates, Gay wrote 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.”

Several students said they felt the resignation proved the influence of outside actors — such as hedge fund CEO Bill A. Ackman ’88, conservative activist Christopher F. Rufo, and Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.) — in swaying the University’s decisions.

“Setting the precedent that rich and powerful people can throw their money around and bully America’s institutions into doing whatever they want is something that will lead to terri-

ble consequences in the future,” Chukwudi M. Ilozue ’25 wrote in an email.

Jeremy O.S. Ornstein ’24, who organized a student rally last month in support of Gay remaining in office, said that while he accepts the resignation, he is frustrated by the news.

“I think that it’s so frustrating and disquieting and unfortunate that vindictive billionaires and spiteful politicians — and I’m thinking about Bill Ackman and representative Stefanik, and others — were able to influence the University,” Ornstein said.

Ornstein added that he hopes Harvard’s next president is “inspired by Gay’s aspirations” to “have a vigorous public debate” over contentious issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“We need bold and imaginative solutions, but we can’t have those conversations on a college campus if we’re catering to the whims of people who have very clear ideological agendas,” he said. “They’re trying to go viral, and they’re trying to take over Harvard from outside Harvard.”

Ackman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. University spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment for this article.

In an emailed statement, Ali P. Black, a spokesperson for Stefanik, wrote that “Gay’s long overdue resignation is a result of her and Harvard’s failed leadership on the global stage.”

Students also pointed to the brightened spotlight on Harvard in recent months and the outsized presence of external voices, including donors. In response to Gay’s leadership crisis, some of the University’s top do-

nors paused their contributions to Harvard — prompting worries from fundraising officers.

Daniella M. Berrospi ’24 wrote that Gay’s resignation “seemed to be influenced more by external factors than by her personal volition.”

“I think a part of her reason for resigning was to safeguard the retention of certain donors for Harvard, thereby ensuring the stability of funding for essential endeavors such as financial aid,” Berrospi wrote. “It really felt like she was making a call in favor of the students, trying to shift the focus back on them.”

But other students heralded the news of Gay’s resignation, which they said was necessary for Harvard to properly address the plagiarism allegations and rebuild trust with Jewish affiliates.

Alexander L.S. Bernat ’25, a Crimson Editorial editor, said that he was walking his dog when he received a text from a friend about Gay’s resignation. Bernat said he was “very excited” and that Gay’s resignation should have come earlier.

“I think — as a Jewish student on campus, as someone who cares about academic integrity — this kind of went on for too long,” Bernat said. “The best time for her to resign would have been after the hearing and right after the allegations came out and were deemed credible, but the second best time was now.”

Joshua A. Kaplan ’26, a Crimson Editorial editor, wrote in an emailed statement Tuesday that Gay’s resignation is a “right step forward” for Harvard.

“I, along with many other Harvard students, look forward to the next president working to repair

the university’s image and combat the hateful antisemitism and bigotry we have seen on our campus,” Kaplan wrote. “There is a long road forward, and this is a good beginning.”

Gay faced widespread condemnation for her testimony before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Dec. 5, where representatives accused her of harboring antisemitic and genocidal speech on Harvard’s campus.

But some of the pro-Palestine student groups whose rhetoric was criticized at the hearing said Gay had failed to adequately protect pro-Palestinian speech.

A spokesperson for Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, whose October statement blaming Israel for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks sparked national furor, wrote in a statement Tuesday that the resignation “sets a chilling precedent for dissent.”

“President Gay, who played an active role in suppressing and mischaracterizing pro-Palestine speech, has fallen victim to the same suppression that she perpetrated against the students she failed to protect,” the spokesperson wrote.

Violet T.M. Barron ’26, an organizer with Harvard Jews for Palestine — a student group which staged a 24-hour occupation of University Hall in November — wrote in a statement on behalf of the group that “Jewish students have not been made suddenly safer” by the resignation.

“I hope Alan Garber and Harvard’s future president succeeds where Gay failed: in unflinchingly distinguishing between anti-Zionism and antisemitism,

properly addressing Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, and most importantly, ending the University’s ongoing complicity in genocide in Gaza,” wrote Barron, a Crimson Editorial editor.

Kashish Bastola ’26 said in an interview that Gay’s “inability to acknowledge the pain of so many different students, especially students of marginalized backgrounds” made the campus climate worse.

“I think there were just so many mounting cries and so much criticism against her,” Bastola said. “I think the plagiarism was just the cherry on top.”

Hiren Lami ’24 was sitting with her brother in her living room when she saw messages about the resignation.

“It really shocked me,” Lami said. “When I saw the president of UPenn resigned I was really surprised, but I thought that the same thing wouldn’t happen here.”

Lami added that Gay’s presidency — particularly as the first Black president of Harvard — was “meaningful” to her, and she said she was “disheartened” by the news.

“She really spoke to experiences that I could resonate with,” Lami said of Gay. Lami, like many students, said Gay’s identity as a Black woman was a significant factor in calls for her resignation.

“I believe that there must have been some reason there’s an intense focus on her,” Lami said.

“I think to divorce that from her identity and the way that she’s been a trailblazer in this type of position would be a little bit naive.”

Mikalah L. Hodge ’27 wrote in

an email that Gay’s resignation served as a reminder that “ Black people at Harvard are the first to be disposed of and the last to be cared for.”

“This is simply another pattern of abuse by a hedge fund disguised as a university,” Hodge wrote. “Allegations of plagiarism ought to be taken with the utmost seriousness, but this has never been about academic integrity.”

Ru’Quan S. Brown ’24 said in an interview Tuesday that Gay’s brief tenure and resignation might “make it more difficult for the next Black president.”

“Perhaps it makes it more difficult for them to stay put, because we all are assuming — at least Black people are assuming — that the next Black president will be tested just as she was tested,” he said.

The brief, crisis-filled nature of Gay’s tenure wasn’t lost on students, and Berrospi also pointed to the broader future of the Harvard presidency.

Berrospi wrote that Gay’s resignation “sets a bad precedent for future presidents.”

“I respect the fact that she was willing to admit that she made mistakes, but it’s a shame how people can be pretty unforgiving, even when you’re trying to make things right,” she wrote.

Bastola also said that though Gay’s appointment to the presidency brought joy and a hope that it would be “historic in good ways,” her resignation served as a “reminder that it wasn’t, and it hasn’t been since the beginning.”

“In some ways, her presidency was over before it even really got to begin,” Bastola said. michelle.amponsah@thecrimson.com

Some Lawmakers Celebrate Gay’s Resignation, Others Disappointed

BY JACK R. TRAPANICK CRIMSON STAFF WRITER

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Massachusetts elected officials, and local Cambridge leaders offered mixed views on former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s Tuesday resignation, with reactions ranging from triumph to outrage.

Gay — who took office in July just more than six months ago — announced her resignation in an email to Harvard affiliates Tuesday afternoon, marking her tenure as the shortest presidency in Harvard history.

Gay’s departure follows a series of scandals over the University’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, including Gay’s controversial testimony at a congressional hearing on antisemitism and mounting allegations of plagiarism in her academic work.

Many conservative lawmakers celebrated Gay’s exit from the University’s top post.Rep. Elise M.

Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.) — who has repeatedly called for Gay to step down and led the most aggressive line of questioning during the Dec. 5 congressional hearing — took to social media to celebrate Gay’s resignation.

Still, Stefanik wrote in a statement on Instagram Tuesday that the controversy that plagued Gay’s presidency was symptomatic of a broader “rot” in higher education.

“This is just the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history,” she wrote.

Other Republican members of Congress shared similar sentiments.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) — who chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce currently investigating Harvard over alleged antisemitism on campus — wrote in a press release that “postsecondary education is in a tailspin.”

“There has been a hostile take-

over of postsecondary education by political activists, woke faculty, and partisan administrators,” she added.

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment for this article.

House Speaker Mike Johnson also celebrated Gay’s resignation, calling it “overdue” in a post on X. But several Democratic politicians said they were dismayed at the announcement, with some blaming Gay’s decision to resign on alleged racism and donor influence.

Jason M. Lewis ’90, a Massachusetts state senator who represents the Fifth Middlesex district, wrote in an email to The Crimson that Gay was “the victim of a concerted political campaign to undermine and impugn her scholarship and leadership.”

Lewis also alleged that “wealthy donors” held an outsized influence over Harvard, which he wrote was “very unfor-

tunate.”

Rep. Jamie B. Raskin ’83 (DMd.) said in an interview with the Crimson Tuesday night that Gay had faced “a ferocious campaign mobilized against her on Fox News and in the right wing media,” though he acknowledged that Gay’s performance during the Dec. 5 congressional testimony “did not show the best common sense.”

In a statement to the Crimson, Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons — who was elected to the office for her third term by the city council just Monday — wrote she was “saddened by this turn of events” and praised Gay as a “strong, accomplished woman of color.”

Simmons, who was the first Black, openly lesbian mayor in the country, also called on Harvard to appoint another woman of color as Gay’s successor.

Cornel R. West ’73 — a former Harvard professor and independent candidate for president —

attributed Gay’s departure to the efforts of outspoken critics including billionaire hedge fund manager Bill A. Ackman ’88, anti-affirmative action activist Edward J. Blum, and former University President Lawrence H. Summers.

“How sad but predictable that the same figures and forces enabling the ethnic cleansing and genocidal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza - Ackman, Blum, Summers and others - push out the first Black woman president of Harvard!” West wrote on X. “This racism against both Palestinians and Black people is undeniable and despicable!”

In her resignation email Tuesday, Gay wrote that she had faced “personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus,” though she did not directly cite them as reasons for her exit.

Several Republican lawmakers have also indicated that they plan on supporting legislation to target perceived ongoing issues

on Harvard’s campus.

Sen. Dan S. Sullivan ’87 (R-Alaska) wrote in a series of posts on X that Gay’s resignation was “the right thing to do” and called for legislation to promote free speech at higher education institutions.

“In the New Year, I’ll be working on legislation to reform these once-respected education & research institutions and restore their commitment to the core values of academic excellence, free inquiry and expression, the pursuit of truth, and a commitment to our country’s founding principles,” Sullivan wrote.

Foxx also expressed her intent to pass legislation on higher education in the coming year.

“The Committee is working hard on policy reforms to the Higher Education Act and to restore the value of college education for students and taxpayers,” Foxx wrote. jack.trapanick@thecrimson.com

NEWS

THE HARVARD CRIMSON JANUARY 3, 2024

11

LAURINNE JAMIE P. EUGENIO — CRIMSON DESIGNER, JOCELYN WANG — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

PLAGIARISM SCANDAL

Gay Plagued by Plagiarism Allegations ACCUSATIONS ROLL IN. Growing allegations of plagiarism against Gay set the stage for her resignation Tuesday afternoon.

BY SALLY E. EDWARDS AND ASHER J. MONTGOMERY CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS

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rowing plagiarism allegations plagued the final weeks of former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s tenure, setting the stage for her resignation Tuesday afternoon.

The allegations — many of which are individually minor but span Gay’s entire academic career — cast scrutiny on her scholarship. Many within and without the University have argued that she ought to be held to the same standard as Harvard’s own students and faculty and called for her resignation.

Though Gay initially signaled that she would try to weather the charges of plagiarism, at first defending her scholarship and then making a series of corrections, the steady stream of new allegations — which continued to roll in during the final days of her presidency — only added to doubts about Gay’s fitness to ef-

fectively lead Harvard.

The Washington Free Beacon — a conservative-leaning outlet which has previously covered plagiarism accusations against Gay — reported Monday that an anonymous professor from outside Harvard filed an expanded complaint alleging six additional unreported instances where Gay allegedly lifted material from other scholars.

The professor had previously filed a complaint to Harvard’s Research Integrity Officer on Dec. 19 alleging more than 40 instances of plagiarism, many of which had already been reported by the Free Beacon, the New York Post, and conservative activist Christopher F. Rufo.

The new claims involve Gay’s 1997 Harvard dissertation and one previously unaddressed academic article — “The Effect of Minority Districts and Minority Representation on Political Participation in California,” published in 2001 by the Public Policy Institute of California — in which Gay used a description of the Voting Rights Act which closely mirrored a description in a 1999 book by David T. Canon.

But Canon, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, told the Free

Beacon that he is “not at all concerned about the passages.”

“This isn’t even close to an example of academic plagiarism,” he said.

University spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain declined to comment on the latest allegations.

Gay first faced allegations of plagiarism in mid-December af-

members of Congress, alumni, and donors.

Gay’s presidency survived the immediate aftermath of the disastrous testimony with the unanimous backing of the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — but the plagiarism allegations persisted.

“

I have known Dr. Claudine Gay to be an active and contributory scholar for many years.

Franklin D. Gilliam Jr. Chancellor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

ter reports in the Free Beacon and Substack claimed she plagiarized portions of her 1997 Ph.D. dissertation and three other academic works.

The allegations came shortly after Gay’s controversial testimony during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, which sparked calls for her resignation from

Following an independent review, the Corporation anQnounced that though instances of improper citations had been identified in Gay’s scholarship, they did not violate Harvard’s standards for research misconduct.

After the initial allegations, Gay requested four corrections in two articles. On Dec. 20, as

Harvard, 24/7.

The Crimson thecrimson.com

plagiarism allegations continued to build up, the University announced Gay would make three additional corrections to her 1997 doctoral dissertation.

Two scholars from whom Gay was accused of lifting additional material on Monday, Franklin D. Gilliam Jr. and Gary King, both told The Crimson in December that they did not consider Gay’s use of their work plagiarism.

In a Tuesday email to The Crimson, Gilliam — the chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro — wrote that he is “saddened” by Gay’s departure.

“I have known Dr. Claudine Gay to be an active and contributory scholar for many years,” he wrote.

King — a Harvard professor who served as Gay’s dissertation adviser – previously defended the integrity of Gay’s work, saying that her dissertation “met the highest levels of academic integrity,” in a Dec. 11 statement to the Crimson.

“If you were going to commit plagiarism, would you plagiarize your professor’s work and expect to get away with it?” he wrote. King did not immediately respond to a request for com-

ment on the latest allegations.

In a letter to Harvard affiliates Tuesday, the Harvard Corporation briefly acknowledged accusations against Gay, highlighting the “extraordinary contributions” she has made as a scholar.

In her own letter announcing her resignation Tuesday, Gay acknowledged the swirling questions about her academic work.

“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,” Gay wrote. sally.edwards@thecrimson.com asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com

THC Read more at THECRIMSON.COM

12

THE HARVARD CRIMSON

IN PHOTOS

JANUARY 3, 2024

December 2022

October 2022

Claudine Gay was announced as Harvard’s 30th president — and the first person of color to lead America’s oldest academic institution — on Dec. 15, 2023. That day, she gave a speech to a crowd of administrators, Corporation members, and other Harvard affiliates in Smith Campus Center J. SELLERS HILL — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Gay formerly served as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Claudine Gay’s Six-Month Presidency HARVARD PRESIDENT Claudine Gay’s resignation on Tuesday — six months and two days after she took office — makes her tenure the shortest in Harvard history. These photos, taken by Crimson photographers, document her time in office, from her announcement as President on Dec. 15, 2022 to the congressional hearing on antisemitism less than a year later that contributed to her resignation.

July 2023 Gay hosted a trio of ice cream socials around campus shortly after taking office. In Harvard Yard, she spoke with students protesting for the creation of an ethnic studies department. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

May 2023 Gay received a standing ovation at Harvard’s 372nd Commencement exercises, where she conferred degrees to candidates from the College shortly before taking office. RYAN H. DOAN-NGUYEN— CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

September 2023

September 2023

At her inauguration, Gay accepted the Charter granted to Harvard College in 1650 from Penny S. Pritzker ’81, the senior fellow of the Harvard Corporation. ADDISON Y. LIU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Gay delivers her inaugural address as predecssors Drew Gilpin Faust and Lawrence S. Bacow watch. She called on affiliates to expand “what Harvard can be and what Harvard can do for the world.” FRANK S. ZHOU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

November 2023

December 2023

December 2023

Gay visits a Shabbat table installation in the Yard symbolizing the hundreds of hostages held by Hamas. Gay faced sustained criticism for her handling of antisemitism on Harvard’s campus. FRANK S. ZHOU — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Following her congressional testimony, multiple trucks calling on Gay to resign appeared on Harvard’s campus, replaying key moments of her testiony. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

Gay, pictured here in October, apologized for her remarks at the end of her congressional testimony, which sparked fierce national criticism, in an interview with The Crimson. JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER

December 2023 Gay faced a wave of national backlash for her testimony before Congress during a tense hearing about antisemitism on college and university campuses. A 90-second exchange between Gay and Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.) went viral on social media, drawing national condemnation from the White House to Harvard Hillel, the University’s Jewish center. MILES J. HERSZENHORN — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER