Harvard University’s highest governing body is standing by its president, Claudine Gay, amid backlash to her troubling testimony before Congress on anti-Semitism and newly revealed plagiarism allegations.
The Harvard Corporation, a 12-member group, is one of the university’s two governing bodies, along with the Board of Overseers, and is regarded as the more powerful body since it is responsible for overseeing Harvard’s academic and financial resources. After meeting on Monday night, the Harvard Corporation released a statement Tuesday morning making clear that it remains committed to supporting Gay’s leadership.
“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University,” the Harvard Corporation, which Gay is a member of, said in a statement signed by all 11 of Gay’s fellow board members. “Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.”
Gay took heat for the answers she gave Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) during testimony before the House last week. After she was asked by Stefanik if “calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s code of conduct,” Gay responded, “It depends on the context.”
“It does not depend on the context,” Stefanik shot back. “The answer is yes. And this is why you should resign.”
Then on Sunday, journalist Chris Rufo published a report outlining what he indicated to be three instances of plagiarism from Gay, per Harvard standards, in her dissertation, “Taking Charge: Black Electoral Success and the Redefinition of American Policies.” Gay has defended her integrity amidst the plagiarism allegations and apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony. Now, the Harvard president can count on the university’s board to defend her.
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The statement from the Harvard Corporation said an independent review of three of her articles was conducted “at her request,” and the results of the analysis “revealed a few instances of inadequate citation.” Gay stands accused of lifting “nearly verbatim” from a paper by Lawrence Bobo and Franklin Gilliam called “Race, Sociopolitical Participation, and Black Empowerment.” After the alleged plagiarism was reported on Sunday, The National Association of Scholars called for Gay’s resignation, but the university’s board says the “inadequate citations” did not violate Harvard’s standards.
“In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay. At Harvard, we champion open discourse and academic freedom, and we are united in our strong belief that calls for violence against our students and disruptions of the classroom experience will not be tolerated,” the Harvard Corporation’s statement added. “Harvard’s mission is advancing knowledge, research, and discovery that will help address deep societal issues and promote constructive discourse, and we are confident that President Gay will lead Harvard forward toward accomplishing this vital work.”
Amanda Prestigiacomo contributed to this report.
