The Harvard Alumni Association Executive Committee has expressed its support for university President Claudine Gay to keep her position following her failure to condemn antisemitism and allegations of plagiarism.
“We encourage the Fellows of Harvard College and Harvard University’s Board of Overseers to join us and issue a strong public pledge of support for our exceptional University President,” the committee said in a letter.
“Over her three decades as a professor and dean, she has made it clear that she is committed to fostering a university climate that does not tolerate harassment or bullying,” the letter stated. “While the current issues at play are complex, her commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and racism has never wavered.”
“President Gay is the right leader to guide the University during this challenging time,” the alumni association added. “We are confident President Gay will address antisemitism, and other forms of hate, effectively and courageously.”
The Harvard Corporation also released a statement regarding Gay’s future with the university.
“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University. Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.”
“So many people have suffered tremendous damage and pain because of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, and the University’s initial statement should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation,” the statement said. “Calls for genocide are despicable and contrary to fundamental human values. President Gay has apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony and has committed to redoubling the University’s fight against antisemitism.”
The Harvard Corporation also addressed the reports of Gay’s plagiarism in her Ph.D. dissertation.
“With regard to President Gay’s academic writings, the University became aware in late October of allegations regarding three articles. At President Gay’s request, the Fellows promptly initiated an independent review by distinguished political scientists and conducted a review of her published work. On December 9, the Fellows reviewed the results, which revealed a few instances of inadequate citation. While the analysis found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct, President Gay is proactively requesting four corrections in two articles to insert citations and quotation marks that were omitted from the original publications.”
“In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay. At Harvard, we champion open discourse and academic freedom, and we are united in our strong belief that calls for violence against our students and disruptions of the classroom experience will not be tolerated. Harvard’s mission is advancing knowledge, research, and discovery that will help address deep societal issues and promote constructive discourse, and we are confident that President Gay will lead Harvard forward toward accomplishing this vital work.”
