Harvard University President Claudine Gay, who has been under intense scrutiny for testimony she gave at a congressional hearing on campus antisemitism as well as allegations of plagiarism in her academic work, will resign from her post.
“It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president,” Gay said in a letter to the Harvard community. “This is not a decision I came to easily. Indeed, it has been difficult beyond words because I have looked forward to working with so many of you to advance the commitment to academic excellence that has propelled this great university across centuries.”
But after consulting with the university’s highest governing board, Gay added, “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’s six-month tenure is the shortest in the history of the prestigious Ivy League university, according to the Harvard Crimson student newspaper. She was the first Black person and second woman to lead the institution.
Gay drew fierce criticism last month after she and her counterparts at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology appeared to sidestep the question of whether students calling for the genocide of Jewish people should be punished.
She then faced allegations of plagiarism in her political science scholarship. The Harvard Corporation, the school’s highest governing body, ordered an investigation that “revealed a few instances of inadequate citation” but found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct.
Gay’s job appeared to be secure on Dec. 12 after the Harvard Corporation, responding to growing calls for her ouster, released a statement saying its members “reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University.”
But the questions…
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