CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – Embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay attended a campus menorah lighting on Wednesday – a day after it emerged that she is keeping her job at the Ivy League school despite a widespread antisemitism backlash.
The unassailable president was among about 100 people who gathered at the daily lighting ceremony, organized by Harvard Chabad, in the campus’s Harvard Park.
Gay, who attended with his colleague Professor Jeff Bussgang, was seen lighting the first candle.
Although a number of anti-Israel protests have been held on campus in recent times, the lighting went on peacefully without any disruption.
Gay’s appearance comes after the Harvard Corporation – the university’s highest governing body – announced on Tuesday that he would remain at the head of the prestigious school following his scathing congressional testimony about antisemitism last week.
Embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay attended a campus menorah lighting on Wednesday. David McGlynn
Several Jewish students — who say they still experience unease on campus because of antisemitism — told The Post Wednesday that Gay should be fired from his position if he fails to take steps to protect them.
“If he is willing to take action to really protect us, that’s fine. If not, he has to leave,” said a student who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals.
Classmates, meanwhile, are ripping the Ivy League institution for what they argue is the “double freedom of speech” associated with Israel’s war.
Some Jewish students want Gay to take protective measures for their safety. David McGlynn
“If any other minority group says they don’t feel safe, the administration will take steps to make sure they have a safe space,” one student, identified only as Olivia, told The Post.
“Now Jewish students say they don’t feel safe. I don’t want to be spoiled, but if you’re going to protect some minority groups but not other minority groups, that’s the basis of antisemitism.”
Maya Bodnick, a sophomore majoring in government, said the campus has been “very tense” since the Israel-Hamas war erupted following the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack.
Gay will keep his job after a congressional hearing in which he failed to denounce campus antisemitism. David McGlynn
“Jewish students I know and non-Jewish students I know feel unsafe or uncomfortable expressing their opinions,” Bodnick said.
“I really do my best to engage in conversation with people who have different views, but it’s challenging to have that discourse,” he continued.
Everything there is to know about embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay
Harvard President Claudine Gay faces calls to resign amid growing antisemitism and plagiarism scandals. AP
Harvard President Claudine Gay is facing calls to resign as she grapples with a growing antisemitism crisis and new allegations that she plagiarized much of her academic work.
Here’s how we got here:
“A lot of people don’t want to engage in perspectives different from their own. I have a lot of friends with family in Israel, with emotional ties to the situation, and it’s just disappointing.”
Just months into his leadership, Gay found himself at the center of a firestorm last week after he and other Ivy League presidents failed to denounce calls for the genocide of Jews at their respective schools during fiery congressional hearings.
The lighting of the menorah runs quietly without any interruption. David McGlynn
It prompted some lawmakers and Harvard donors to immediately call for Gay’s resignation after his testimony sparked a national backlash.
The president of the University of Pennsylvania, Liz Magill, who attended the hearing with Gay, resigned four days after the incriminating testimony.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
