Harvard President Dr. Claudine Gay announced her resignation on Jan. 2nd, 2024, after approximately six months in the position. This resignation resulted from several events, including her testimony on hate speech and allegations of plagiarism.
Many protests and counter-protests at academic institutions ensued following the Hamas attacks on Israel. Consequently, a congressional hearing was convened where several university presidents responded to questioning about antisemitism on their campuses.
When asked by Representative Stefanik: “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules on bullying and harassment?” Gay replied, “The rules around bullying and harassment are quite specific and if the context in which that language is used amounts to bullying and harassment, then we take–we take action against it.” Following the testimony, Gay came under scrutiny for not condemning statements related to the genocide of Jewish people, prompting Representative Stefanik to advocate for Gay’s resignation.
Besides Rep. Stefanik, more than seventy lawmakers felt Claudine Gay’s response was inadequate enough for them to send a letter to Harvard demanding her dismissal. Claudine Gay subsequently apologized for her failure to address antisemitism at the time, saying, “I am sorry…Words matter…When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret.”
Gay further clarified in a conversation with the Harvard Crimson, “There are some who have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students.” “Let me be clear: Calls for violence or genocide against the Jewish community, or any religious or ethnic group are vile, they have no place at Harvard, and those who threaten our Jewish students will be held to account.”
The attention brought on by the congressional testimony resulted in more people researching Claudine Gay’s academic accomplishments. Some pointed out that Dr. Gay has written and produced less academic output than other individuals who have held the position in the past.
More importantly, allegations of plagiarism against Claudine Gay arose that primarily surround her poor use of citations. According to an article from the New York Times, this issue is present in about half of Claudine Gay’s articles. One article titled “The Effect of Minority Districts and Minority Representation on Political Participation in California” allegedly lacks citations, featuring sentences from a book by scholar David. T. Canon without proper attribution.
On the contrary, CNN reports that Canon is not concerned and does not consider the passages plagiarism. He said, “Dr. Gay and I are defining basic terms. Good definitions of these terms would have to use similar language or they would not be accurate. This isn’t even close to an example of academic plagiarism.” The Harvard Corporation states regarding an independent review, “While the analysis found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct, President Gay is proactively requesting four corrections in two articles to insert citations and quotation marks that were omitted from the original publications.”
On the other hand, Michael Doughtery, a professor who has written about plagiarism, stated that it is hard to determine who is mainly speaking in the previously mentioned article. “The apparent failure to use quotation marks means that David Canon’s authorship over these words is suppressed, even though Canon is mentioned elsewhere,” he said.
Regardless of whether Claudine Gay may or may not have plagiarized, some experts agree that her resignation will be beneficial for both her and the university. Jonathan Bailey, another plagiarism expert, stated that it was probably the best thing she could have done for Harvard. He mentions, “The plagiarism scandals have become a tremendous distraction for both her and the school… while another researcher with a similar pattern of issues would likely not be forced to resign or face termination, she is both the president of Harvard and the center of a very politically charged story.”
Regarding her resignation, Claudine Gay stated it was important for her to do, “…so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual”, although the decision was “difficult beyond words.”
Written by Huy Changvu of Cabin John Middle School
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