Claudine Gay has finally decided to do the right thing and step down from her role as the president of Harvard University on Tuesday, submitting her resignation via letter to the university community. However, before anyone thinks Gay has seen the error of her ways, it’s important to point out that she blames all of the criticism she received for plagiarizing someone else’s work on racism. Big shock, right? That’s kind of the default defense anytime a “person of color” gets busted doing something.
Never mind the fact that the response would and should be the same, regardless of skin color. If a white person committed plagiarism, that individual would also be called upon to step down from the presidential position of the school. Duh.
According to a report from the Daily Wire:
Gay’s reported resignation comes in the wake of numerous plagiarism allegations as well as her controversial congressional testimony on what Harvard is doing to combat anti-Semitism on campus after Hamas’ attack on Israel.
This is Claudine Gay's resignation letter. Rather than take responsibility for minimizing antisemitism, committing serial plagiarism, intimidating the free press, and damaging the institution, she calls her critics racist. This is the poison of DEI ideology. Glad she's gone. pic.twitter.com/WlqMKLn6pA
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) January 2, 2024
“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 went on to state in her resignation letter. “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.”
“My deep sense of connection to Harvard and its people has made it all the more painful to witness the tensions and divisions that have riven our community in recent months, weakening the bonds of trust and reciprocity that should be our sources of strength and support in times of crisis,” the now former president of Harvard said.
It was at this point in the resignation letter that Gay tried her best to belittle the charges brought against her, claiming “racial animus” was what was responsible for the criticism she received. Because it could not possibly be due to the immoral, unethical act she committed.
“Amidst all of this, it has been distressing to have doubts cast on my commitments to confronting hate and 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,” the letter read.
Gay has been hit with nearly 50 allegations of plagiarism affecting eight of her 17 published works.
One of the scholars Gay is accused of plagiarizing, Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain, blasted Harvard in late December for how it handled the accusations against Gay.
“I have a problem with the way Harvard has reacted to the entire situation, because it seems like — with the assistance of some of their professors and other elites — they’re trying to redefine what is plagiarism,” she stated. “They’re making the argument that there are different levels and, by extension, that some of it is acceptable. That is a problem for higher education in America.”
In December of 2023, Gay provided testimony before Congress, along with the presidents of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, where she bobbed and weaved like Mike Tyson to avoid having to answer questions concerning whether calls for genocide against Jews being made on campus were violations of the universities’ codes of conduct.
“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay said to lawmakers during her testimony. She then commented that this kind of hate speech is “at odds with the values of Harvard” and that when that kind of “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”
Several of the more high-profile donors for the school decided to halt their charitable donations to Harvard. That wasn’t the only hit the institution took, as early applications took a dive of 17 percent last month.
The report ended by saying:
Additionally, Congress has launched an investigation into Harvard over anti-Semitism on campus that now also includes the plagiarism allegations. Gay’s tenure, a little over 6 months according to the Crimson, was the shortest in the university’s history.