Harvard President Claudine Gay has resigned amidst another round of plagiarism accusations. Gay has been noted for having the shortest tenure in the school’s history.
Gay released a letter on Jan. 2 to the Harvard faculty, staff and overall community of her decision to resign, noting the racially-motivated attacks on her character and academic morality.
“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,” shared the alum.
Gay expressed that her wishes were in the “best interest” of Harvard as more focus grew on her academic work while acknowledging that racial bias was at play within the accusations.
“Amidst all of this, it has been distressing 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 — frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus,” expressed Gay.
The news follows the university’s newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, which posted a dissenting op-ed urging the Ivy League institution to “Let Gay Go” after more claims of plagiarism emerged. Gay became president in a historic appointment as the first Black woman to take on the role, embarking on the role in July.
However, her tenure has been scandalous in the past few months. First, her comments on anti-semitism on campus during a congressional hearing, in light of the Israeli-Hamas conflict, garnered significant criticism. Although Gay subsequently apologized for her remarks, a push by conservative lawmakers to remove her and other university presidents who expressed similar statements began.
While Harvard’s faculty expressed their public support of Gay, multiple accusations of plagiarism began to follow, leading to her resignation due to the growing scandal.
