A watchdog group is demanding the accrediting institution investigate Harvard University over its handling of alleged plagiarism against its former president Claudine Gay — a move that could determine whether the Ivy League school continues to receive hundreds of millions in federal funding, The Post has learned.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, sent a formal complaint this week to the New England Commission on Higher Education, a group that has accredited universities for the Department of Education since its founding in 1885.
Harvard’s compliance with NECHE standards is required for continued eligibility to receive funding under the federal student loan program, according to the complaint.
The 12-page complaint alleges that the Harvard Corporation, the school’s governing body, “appears to have willfully and persistently operated outside Harvard’s established procedures” in the case of Gay, who resigned as the college’s president amid his poor testimony before Congress on antisemitism and alleged plagiarism earlier this month.
Harvard’s policy on reporting academic misconduct requires that any allegations be reported to school authorities immediately, and “strictly prohibits retaliation against the complainant,” according to the complaint.
An education watchdog group has launched a complaint against Harvard’s former president, Harvard President Claudine Gay. David McGlynn
The Post was the first to approach Harvard last year about Gay’s alleged plagiarism.
A lawyer acting for the school said the allegations were “absolutely false” weeks before the governing board investigated Gay.
The lawyer threatened The Post with a lawsuit.
ACTA said that the Harvard Corporation conducted an “irregular” and “opaque” investigation into its former president that deviated from its own internal rules on reporting research misconduct and the standards set by NECHE.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni has filed a complaint with the New England Commission on Higher Education over Harvard Corporation’s “opaque” handling of a complaint against its former president. CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“Harvard Corporation and the former president appear to have established as a matter of public precedent that they can arbitrarily overrule and circumvent faculty-approved policies and procedures governing allegations of research misconduct,” the complaint said. “Harvard seems to have shown the world that its governing board can improve and change investigative procedures, even from week to week.”
ACTA said a copy of its complaint had been sent to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and to Penny Pritzker, the most senior member of the Harvard Corporation.
A Harvard spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
