It’s a good bet that the former president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, is already in the running for the 2024 Hypocrite of the Year Award.
Gay came under fire for charges of plagiarism and her response to the growing anti-Semitism at Harvard — which was no response or, worse, a green light to students to call for the genocide of Jews.
She tendered her resignation on Tuesday in a letter that only served to further crater her credibility.
Gay began, “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. This is not a decision I came to easily.”
It’s safe to say that it wasn’t Gay’s decision in the end. According to investor and Harvard alum Bill Ackman, the school has lost billions in donations due to her handling of the anti-Semitism fueled by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
When money talks, someone has to walk.
“Indeed,” Gay continued, “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.”
Gay faces approximately 50 allegations of plagiarism covering eight of her 17 published works, including her 1997 Ph.D. dissertation. According to The Washington Free Beacon, on Monday she was hit with new charges of copying “nearly half a page of material verbatim from another scholar.”
Yet Gay can somehow talk about advancing “academic excellence” with a straight face. And she was just getting started.
Should Gay have been fired instead of allowed to resign?
“Amidst all of this,” 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.”
Yes, not only is Gay a pillar of academic rigor — it does take some work to read other scholars and copy their writing — she’s also a victim of racism.
Let’s go to the tape, shall we?
In December, GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York grilled Gay in a House hearing on anti-Semitism on college campuses. Stefanik asked Gay if calling for the genocide of Jewish people would violate Harvard’s code of conduct.
Gay’s answer, along with those of two other university presidents, was at best a shining example of Orwellian Newspeak. She said it would depend on context.
If a Harvard student called for the extermination of Jews over brunch, would it be alright? How about at an anti-Israel protest like the ones we have seen at Harvard since Oct. 7?
If Gay meant it would be OK to talk about the genocide of Jews in a class on World War II, for example, why didn’t she come out and say it? She refused to give a cut-and-dry response.
Gay later apologized for her comments, and the Harvard Corporation condemned attacks against Jews in a statement that came out amid the controversy when many were calling for Gay’s resignation.
“So many people have suffered tremendous damage and pain because of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, and the University’s initial statement should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation. Calls for genocide are despicable and contrary to fundamental human values,” the statement read.
“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.”
Why didn’t Gay say as much at the House hearing? Harvard’s attempt to plaster over the hole in the hull of the ship with doublespeak was too little too late. The ship was sinking and Gay had to go.
The humiliating fact of the matter is that Gay appeared reluctant to condemn anti-Semitism and then, when push came to shove, claimed to be a victim of racism herself.
The Harvard Corporation’s statement on her resignation was equally hypocritical.
“While President Gay has acknowledged missteps and has taken responsibility for them, it is also true that she has shown remarkable resilience in the face of deeply personal and sustained attacks,” the statement read.
“While some of this has played out in the public domain, much of it has taken the form of repugnant and in some cases racist vitriol directed at her through disgraceful emails and phone calls. We condemn such attacks in the strongest possible terms.”
No, the backlash against Gay isn’t due to her race. Remember that Liz Magill, the University of Pennsylvania president who resigned amid pressure over her similarly disastrous House testimony, is white.
It’s safe to say Gay was forced to do likewise. But it wasn’t because she’s black or even because of what appears to be Harvard’s anti-Semitism.
It’s because Gay was a habitual academic cheater and no amount of academic mumbo jumbo could cover it up.
