Conservative activists and journalists Christopher Rufo and Chris Brunet alleged that Harvard University President Claudine Gay plagiarized portions of her Ph.D. dissertation.
The investigation comes as Gay did not condemn the call for Jewish genocide during a Congressional hearing.
Rufo and Brunet reported that Gay’s 1977 dissertation, “Taking Charge: Black Electoral Success and the Redefinition of American Policies,” contains “an entire paragraph nearly verbatim from a paper by Lawrence Bobo and Franklin Gilliam.”
“Gay repeats this violation of Harvard’s policy throughout the document, again using work from Bobo and Gilliam, as well as passages from Richard Shingles, Susan Howell, and Deborah Fagan, which she reproduces nearly verbatim, without quotation marks,” Rufo added.
Gay does not use quotation marks when needed, although she does cite the authors at the end of the paper.
The Harvard president also composed “an entire appendix in the dissertation directly taken from Gary King’s book ‘A Solution to the Ecological Inference Problem.'”
Professor Carol Swain, whose material was plagiarized in Gay’s paper, responded to Rufo’s analysis saying, “I have not read the articles or books in question. However, two things come to mind: imitation is said to be the highest form of flattery and secondly Dr. Gay’s committee, reviewers, and colleagues should have caught these alleged transgressions. I will issue a statement after I have more information. Right now it seems like she is a victim of the ‘Adversity of Diversity.'”
I just learned of @realchrisrufo analysis of #ClaudineGay’s work and the allegations of plagiarism. I have not read the articles or books in question. However, two things come to mind: imitation is said to be the highest form of flattery and secondly Dr. Gay’s committee,… pic.twitter.com/0388xnHqSi
— Dr. Carol M. Swain (@carolmswain) December 11, 2023
Harvard donor Bill Ackman, who previously said that Gay was hired because of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, shared that he “asked a senior member of the [Harvard] faculty to examine the below allegations of plagiarism against President Gay.”
“The faculty member found them to be credible,” Ackman added.
I asked a senior member of the @Harvard faculty to examine the below allegations of plagiarism against President Gay.
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) December 11, 2023
The faculty member found them to be credible. https://t.co/Y7LdeuxODR
American Faith reported that over 70 members of Congress have called for university presidents to be removed over their failure to condemn antisemitism in a recent hearing.
“The university presidents’ responses to questions aimed at addressing the growing trend of antisemitism on college and university campuses were abhorrent,” the letter said. “When pushed on whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates university policies on bullying or harassment, Presidents Gay (Harvard), Kornbluth (MIT), and Magill (Penn) were evasive and dismissive, failing to simply condemn such action. This should have been an easy and resounding ‘yes.’”
“The leadership of top universities plays a pivotal role in shaping the moral compass of our future leaders,” the letter added. “It is critically important that such leadership reflects a clear and unwavering commitment to combating antisemitism, along with all forms of hate speech and bigotry.”
