Former Harvard president Claudine Gay claims she was the victim of a “well-organized trap” that led to the end of her brief historic time at the helm of the prestigious university.
The 53-year-old resigned on Tuesday after weeks of controversy over his handling of antisemitism on campus after a surprise Hamas attack on Israel and accusations of plagiarism in his academic work dogged him.
“Yes, I made a mistake. In my initial response to the October 7 atrocity, I should have stated more emphatically what all people of conscience know: Hamas is a terrorist organization that seeks to eliminate the Jewish state,” Gay wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times Wednesday .
“And at the congressional hearings last month, I fell into a well-laid trap. I neglected to make it clear that calls for the genocide of Jews are abhorrent and unacceptable and that I will use every tool at my disposal to protect students from that kind of hatred.”
Demands for Gay’s resignation began in the fall, when he would not condemn a group of more than 30 Harvard students who published a letter claiming Israel was “solely responsible” for Hamas terrorist attacks.
Harvard’s former president, 53, resigned from the prestigious Ivy League on Tuesday after weeks of controversy over campus politics and his academic record dogged him. David McGlynn Gay said he had fallen into a “well-orchestrated trap” at his congressional hearings, which he had set up by top Harvard figures, that would eventually lead to his resignation. Reuters
Calls for him to step down grew after dozens of allegations of plagiarism in his work emerged following his scathing testimony before Congress on December 5, in which he refused to say that anyone who called for the genocide of Jews at Harvard would be punished.
“Does calling for the genocide of the Jews violate your university’s code of conduct on bullying or harassment?” New York Representative Elise Stefanik asked Gay at the hearing.
“It depends on the context,” replied the academic.
“I never imagined having to defend decades-old and widely respected research, but the past few weeks have wasted the truth. Those who have relentlessly campaigned to oust me since the fall often trade in lies and ad hominem insults, not valid arguments. reasoned,” he wrote. “They recycle tired racial stereotypes about Black talent and temperament. They reject false narratives of indifference and incompetence.
“It’s not lost on me that I’m creating an ideal canvas on which to project every concern about the generational and demographic changes taking place on American campuses: a black woman elected to lead a storied institution,” she continued.
Stefanik on Wednesday blasted the Gay’s Times essay.
“This is not a ‘well-designed trap’ (to correctly quote disgraced former @Harvard president Claudine Gay),” he wrote in X.
New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who had questioned Gay at the hearing, remained unsatisfied with Gay’s answers Wednesday. He referred to X calling the former Harvard president an op-ed, saying it was not “a good trap,” but “a colossal failure of a university president on the global stage.” CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images
“Contrary to their attempts to deflect attention and assign responsibility elsewhere, everyone knows this is not a ‘well-orchestrated trap’ as the disgraced former university president claims,” the Republican continued.
“It’s not a trap. It is a colossal failure of university presidents on the global stage to answer simple moral questions. Goodbye.”
While under Gay’s tenure, a Jewish student was surrounded by pro-Palestinian supporters who shouted “shame” at him as he walked to class, and the campus saw a doxxing truck drive by with student faces on it that blamed Israel for the Hamas attacks.
Gay again faced backlash after allegations of plagiarism plagued his 1997 Ph.D. thesis, in which two journalists said he plagiarized large parts of his thesis, which would directly violate Harvard’s academic integrity policy.
Documents obtained by reporters Christopher Rufo and Chris Brunet posted on X compared Gay’s work with earlier works by other authors and academic scholars, showing that some passages were almost replicated.
Under Gay’s tenure, a Jewish student was surrounded by pro-Palestinian supporters who shouted “shame” as he walked to class and a doxxing truck showing the faces of students blaming Israel for a Hamas attack drove through campus. CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Gay blasted the accusations in his op-ed.
“I believe all scholars deserve full and proper credit for their work. When I learned about this mistake, I immediately requested a correction from the journal where the flagged article was published, consistent with how I see similar faculty cases being handled at Harvard,” he wrote.
“I have never misrepresented my research findings, nor have I ever claimed credit for other people’s research. Moreover, misquotation should not obscure the fundamental truth: I am proud of my work and its impact on the ground,” he added.
The former Harvard leader also issued a warning about a “selfish agenda.”
“In these tense moments, each of us must be more skeptical than ever about the loudest and most extreme voices in our culture, however organized or well-connected. Too often they pursue a selfish agenda that should be filled with more questions and less trust,” he wrote.
“Our nation’s college campuses must remain places where students can learn, share and grow together, not spaces where proxy battles and political positions take root. The university must remain a free place where courage and reason unite to advance the truth, no matter what forces oppose them.”
Gay had the shortest tenure as president at Harvard, serving only six months and one day. He was the first black leader of the nation’s most prestigious university.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
