BY BILL JUNEAU
Claudine Gay, 53, dived into the Harvard presidency last July 1, and received praise for her intellectual superiority, and for her dedication in advancing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in the halls of academia. But she sank like a rock in water just six months later, after being exposed as a woke-minded proponent who believes that it is permissible for students on campus to call for the "genocide" of Jews; and as a plagiarist whose "scholarly" writings contained the unattributed rhetoric of others.
She created a Harvard raging controversy on the following Dec. 6 when she delivered anti-Semitic comments before a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. In response to a question, Gay indicated that schools should not restrict students participating in demonstrations on campus from calling for the killing of Jews. Her words drew a firestorm of complaints about her all-around leadership as president of the nation's most prestigious university. Most Americans, it appeared, do not share with Gay her woke-minded opinion that free reins should be given to universities, consistent with the First Amendment, to encourage the elimination of an entire race.
Gay's outrageous comments caused critics to question her background and ability to serve as president of the nation's foremost university. Her remarks touched off an inspection of her writings and her PhD thesis which revealed some 20 to 50 instances in which Gay had apparently plagiarized the writings of others and, without attribution, had in some cases used word-for- word rhetoric as her own.
Her anti-Semitic comments and her plagiarism caused a national drumbeat of criticism, which led to her resignation on Jan. 2, some four weeks after her congressional appearance, and about six months into her presidency.
Yet in Dr. Gay's mind, it is neither her willingness to let her students advocate in favor of wiping out Jews, nor her cheating on her thesis and other scholarly writings, that caused the loss of her exalted job. No, in her letter of resignation, Dr. Gay blamed "racial animus," for her quitting. Several days later, she sent a letter to the NYT saying that she was a victim of a "well laid trap."
In her letter of resignation, Gay said that she was stepping down from the presidency with a "heavy heart" and in the best interests of Harvard..... "It has been distressing, she wrote, "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; and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus."
Her identity as an African American, the key factor which led to her appointment as Harvard's first black woman president, was not powerful enough to help her keep the job.
Behind the curtain, it has been widely reported, former U.S. President Barack Obama, a Harvard alum, had importuned everyone he could find to help save the lofty position for this remarkable woman of color. But he was unsuccessful in turning around the massive criticism which flowed from her asinine and immoral comments, which she had delivered publicly.
The Rev Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist who seldom misses an opportunity to charge "racism," expressed outrage at Gay's resignation. In a statement, he said that her quitting as president is an "attack on every black woman in this country who has put a crack in the glass ceiling." Also, he accused some Gay critics of having a "racial animus and a repugnant racist vitriol" against her.
Liberal DEI enthusiasts were probably hoping to hear from President Biden who is a vocal supporter of identity politics and the woke philosophy. But the fumbling Biden has remained quiet. It was not surprising, though since Biden, himself, was a well-documented plagiarist while attending Syracuse Law school, and then as a U.S. Senator from Delaware. Those shameful credentials, no doubt, got in the way of his going to bat for Gay. Dr. Gay was the first black female president out of the 30 presidents who have held office at the 388 year-old Harvard. She will continue there as a tenured professor of government and African American studies. As President, she reportedly was to be paid $879,000 a year. As a professor, her annual salary will be $226,300.
To many critics it was Gay's strong embracing of so-called DEI that was responsible for all the criticism and unpopularity. Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, now "X," has posted that DEI is "just another term for 'racism' and-- shame on anyone using it. Bill Ackman, a billionaire Harvard donor and a hard line critic of Gay, is on the same page as Musk. He wrote on Twitter that he believed that DEI efforts were "racist and dangerous" with the racism in this case against whites. He also said that DEI was a "powerful movement" that has not only pervaded Harvard, but the educational system at large and needs to be opposed. In response to Gay's assertion that she was a victim of a "well laid trap," Elise Stefanik, a New York congresswoman, said that Gay's exit from Harvard was not a "well laid trap," but rather was Gay's "own cataclysmic failure." It was Stefanik who had questioned Gay at the congressional hearing which had been scheduled as a means of exploring the reasons for anti Semitic rhetoric by students on American campuses.
When Gay testified before Congress, she was one of three university presidents who appeared as witnesses. With Gay, was Dr. Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Sally Kornbluth, President of MIT. Like Gay, Dr. Magill has resigned her presidency while Kornbluth appears to be holding tight to her job.
Alan M. Garber, an economist and physician who is Harvard's provost and chief academic officer, will be serving as the interim President.
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