For six months and two days, Harvard University had its first Black president in its nearly 388-year history. On Tuesday, now-former Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned. Why did Gay need to resign? Well, that depends on who you ask.
According to the Harvard Crimson, Gay—Harvard’s former dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences who has been drowning in controversy due to a pro-Palestine statement and anonymous allegations of plagiarism—explained in her written resignation that she decided to leave after meeting with members of the Harvard Corporation.
“It has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual,” Gay wrote.
“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 — and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus,” she went on to write.
In response to the news of Gay’s resignation, the Corporation put out a statement praising the 53-year-old educator’s work for the institution and even said the move was an example of her selflessness.
“Her own message conveying her intention to step down eloquently underscores what those who have worked with her have long known – her commitment to the institution and its mission is deep and selfless,” the Corporation wrote.
Gay’s predecessor, former Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow, lamented Gay’s resignation and praised her work and intellect.
“Claudine is a person of great intellect, integrity, vision and strength. She had much to contribute not just to Harvard but to all of higher education. I regret that she will not have that opportunity,” Bacow wrote.
But white conservative America is celebrating the demise of Gay’s tenure—the shortest term in Harvard’s history. They think (or pretend to think) she’s antisemitic because of “the University’s initial response to the Israel-Hamas war, which did not directly condemn Hamas or address a controversial pro-Palestine statement signed by more than 30 student groups,” the Crimson reported.
So, white conservatives still can’t see a difference between supporting Hamas and supporting the citizens of Palestine, nor can they discern antisemitism from calling out the Israeli government over its deep history of murderous atrocities committed against Palestinian people.
Then there’s the allegations of plagiarism regarding Gay’s academic work, which were alleged by an anonymous accuser and promoted by right-wing news site the Washington Free Beacon. The Beacon cited a myriad of Gay’s writings that included passages similar in their wordings to those written by other writers. Conservatives read the article and instantly became experts on academic plagiarism. It didn’t matter that while the Corporation acknowledged that its review found “instances of inadequate citation,” it also said it didn’t find anything that amounted to academic plagiarism or research misconduct. It didn’t matter that even the Beacon mentioned that “several” writers Gay was accused of plagiarizing said she did nothing wrong, including anything that amounted to plagiarism. (Interestingly enough, the Beacon didn’t cite a single writer Gay was accused of plagiarizing who agreed that she plagiarized.)
The accusations, whether legitimate or not, were all that was necessary for white people to start calling Gay and “affirmative action hire” while pretending they weren’t racist. (It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that Gay was hired just two days after the Supreme Court ruled against Harvard in a decision that effectively ended diversity initiatives in college admissions.)
Despite the support for Gay and the absence of actual authors who accused her of plagiarism, “Gay faced intense pressure from external voices calling for her removal or resignation, including Harvard donor Bill A. Ackman ’88, Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.), and conservative activist Christopher F. Rufo,” according to the Crimson. The House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which had already opened a congressional investigation into antisemitism at Harvard, announced on December 20 that it would expand the investigation to include the plagiarism allegations. Officials were also afraid that the controversy behind Gray would cause the wealthy white donors that the rich white institution of higher learning relies on to take their money elsewhere.
All of this is why, if you ask Black people and other supporters of Gray, her resignation only actually amounts to one thing: white supremacy in academia.
Yes, plagiarism and antisemitism should be taken seriously whenever they rear their ugly heads, but this attack on Gray feels like something we’ve all seen before. It took the better part of four centuries for Harvard University to seat its first Black president. Still, it only took a few short months for white conservative America to tear her down—and then claim she was an affirmative action hire.
Is it racism? You decide. (But yes, yes, the hell it is.)
