Harvard University has come under fire amid revelations that it tried to thwart The Post’s investigation into Claudine Gay’s alleged plagiarism and clear her of such charges before conducting the investigation.
Rep. Jim Banks, (R-Ind.) who sits on the House Education and Workforce Committee, which has scrutinized the Ivy League school, called the aggressive attempt to block The Post’s investigation “disgraceful.”
“Harvard has feared losing donations and taxpayer funding since they were exposed for harboring antisemitism,” he told The Post.
“Claudine Gay claimed to support free speech and honest inquiry in her congressional testimony, but now the university is threatening reporters and lying to protect her reputation and over $50 billion endowment.”
A law firm representing the elite university sent a threatening legal letter to The Post in late October, calling accusations that Gay plagiarized from other academics “absolutely false” and insisting that his work was “properly cited and credited.”
It threatened to sue The Post for “substantial” damages and insisted that The Post’s report “should not be published.”
Jim Banks rips Harvard’s actions as ‘disgraceful.’ Reuters
By December 12, Harvard had acknowledged that Gay had been investigated by the university’s highest governing body and issued corrections to two academic journals, to acknowledge where his work actually came from.
The firestorm over Gay’s alleged plagiarism erupted shortly after his test hearing before the House Education Committee earlier this month in which he dodged whether antisemitic chants violated the campus code of conduct.
The Post’s cover story on Claudine Gay. scale
“@Harvard misled & threatened @nypost with litigation to kill article alleging President Gay had committed plagiarism. This reflects very poorly on the Corporation’s board, and whoever in the Harvard administration is behind this effort,” Bill Ackman, Harvard alumnus, hedge fund billionaire, and Gay critic, wrote on X.
“This is yet another Hunter-Biden-laptop-like crackdown on the NY Post, and further evidence of Harvard’s rejection of speech that doesn’t fit the preferred and dominant narrative.”
.@Harvard misleading and threatening @nypost with litigation to get him to kill an article alleging President Gay had committed plagiarism.
This reflects very poorly on the Corporation board, and whoever in the Harvard administration is behind this effort.
this…
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) December 22, 2023
Harvard tapped Clare Locke, a law firm that had previously done work for the Sackler family, Russian oligarchs and Matt Lauer, to send a fiery letter dangling the lawsuit after The Post sought comment in October on allegations Gay had plagiarized parts of three works that published.
“Harvard hired Thomas Clare, a lawyer whose signature was attacking reporters with frivolous libels on behalf of deep-pocketed clients. This looks worse for Harvard & Gay,” ProPublica senior editor Josh Eisinger wrote at X.
Wow trying to scare @isareport & @nypost Harvard hired Thomas Clare, a lawyer whose signature was attacking reporters with frivolous libels on behalf of deep-pocketed clients.
This looks worse for Harvard & Gay.https://t.co/NStUXROSSH
— Jesse Eisinger (@eisingerj) December 13, 2023
“[The Post’s] the long story has more incriminating details that seem like I’m bringing the scandal into the realm of Rathergate and beyond into satire. Instead stood behind his fraudulent story for 12 days before the higher authorities at CBS News forced him to back down (with his fingers crossed behind his back),” wrote conservative author Scott Johnson on the Powerline blog.
George Leef of the National Review ripped Harvard’s use of Clare Locke, as a “malicious attempt to stifle an investigation into her plagiarism.”
“It’s easy to see where students get the idea that the way to deal with people and ideas you don’t like is to use threats and ‘cancellation,'” he said.
Harvard lawyers told the New York Post that Claudine Gay’s plagiarized quote was “not plagiarism” before launching any investigation. Then the lawyer bullied the Post into silence, saying the newspaper “cannot move forward with the proposed article.” This is corruption. pic.twitter.com/ENcDhL89Fp
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) December 22, 2023
Manhattan Institute senior fellow Christopher Rufo, who helped expose the plagiarism allegations, called Harvard’s crackdown efforts “corrupt.”
“Between this and Hunter’s laptop story before the election, are you beginning to understand why ‘smart and important’ people feel the need to discredit The Post and elevate The Times?” User X Marty Guthrie wrote.
Between this and Hunter’s laptop story before the election, are you beginning to understand why “smart and important” people feel the need to discredit The Post and lift up The Times?. Plagiarism: Harvard clears Claudine Gay… https://t. co/MwHN8jKHyQ
— Marty (@martyguthrie) December 23, 2023
The Post sought comment from Harvard on October 24 and noted 27 possible instances of Gay plagiarizing between 1993 and 2017.
At first, Jonathan Swain, Harvard’s senior director of communications and a longtime Democratic aide, asked for more time. However, a few days later, Clare Locke sent the threatening letter to The Post.
Soon after, Gay called for an investigation and the school consulted with an outside expert to investigate his work.
Struggling Claudine Gay hasn’t said much publicly about the accusations of plagiarism swirling around her. Reuters
Harvard then sent a follow-up on Nov. 7, while the university’s external investigation was underway, countering that the allegations were “false.”
The letter did not disclose the existence of an investigation.
Five days after Gay’s controversial testimony before the Education Committee, Rufo released a document accusing Gay of plagiarism. He did so while The Post was still investigating the matter.
Some students on campus were not thrilled with Claudine Gay’s testimony to Congress. David McGlynn’s line of questioning of Elise Stefanik to Claudine Gay and others ended up sparking a firestorm for the institution’s president. Reuters
Then the Washington Free Beacon published a story, highlighting additional incidents of possible plagiarism.
“I stand by the integrity of my scholarship. Throughout my career, I have worked to ensure that my scholarship adheres to the highest academic standards,” Gay told The Boston Globe in response.
Gay survived calls to resign for testifying to Congress. Former University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill, who testified alongside Gay, eventually resigned following similar outrage over her testimony.
Harvard University is generally one of the second-highest ranked institutions in the country. David McGlynn
The Education Committee has since opened an investigation into antisemitism on college campuses.
The Post reached out to Harvard for comment Sunday.
Gay became Harvard’s 30th president in July.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
