Former Harvard president Claudine Gay claims she was the victim of a “well-laid trap” that led to the end of her historically brief tenure at the helm of the prestigious university.
The 53-year-old resigned on Tuesday after weeks of controversy over her handling of anti-Semitism on campus following Hamas’ shocking attack on Israel and accusations of plagiarism in her academic work dogged her.
“Yes, I made mistakes. “In my initial response to the atrocities of October 7, I should have stated more forcefully what all people of good conscience know: Hamas is a terrorist organization seeking to eradicate the Jewish State,” Gay wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times Wednesday.
“And at a congressional hearing last month, I fell into a well-laid trap. “I forgot to clearly articulate that calls for the genocide of the Jewish people are abhorrent and unacceptable and that I would use every tool at my disposal to protect students from that kind of hate.”
Demands for Gay’s resignation began in the fall, when she failed to condemn more than 30 Harvard student groups that published a letter holding Israel “totally responsible” for the Hamas terrorist attack.
The former Harvard president, 53, resigned from the prestigious Ivy League on Tuesday after weeks of controversy over her campus politics and her academic record. David McGlynn Gay said she had fallen into a “well-laid trap” at her congressional hearing, for which she was groomed by senior Harvard officials, that would eventually lead to her resignation. REUTERS
Calls for her to resign grew after dozens of accusations of plagiarism in her work emerged following her disastrous testimony before Congress on December 5, where she 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 Rep. Elise Stefanik asked Gay at the hearing.
“It depends on the context,” the academic responded.
“I never imagined I would have to defend decades-old and widely respected research, but the last few weeks have laid bare the truth. “Those who had campaigned relentlessly to overthrow me since the fall often trafficked in lies and ad hominem insults, not reasoned arguments,” he wrote. ”They recycled worn-out racial stereotypes about black talent and temperament. They pushed a false narrative of indifference and incompetence.
“It is not lost on me that I created an ideal canvas to project every anxiety about the generational and demographic shifts unfolding on American campuses: a Black woman selected to lead a historic institution,” she continued.
Stefanik criticized Gay’s essay in the Times on Wednesday.
“This was not a ‘well-laid trap’ (to appropriately quote disgraced former @Harvard president Claudine Gay),” she wrote in.
New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who had questioned Gay at the hearing, was still unhappy with Gay’s response Wednesday. She took to CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
“Contrary to their attempts to distract and assign responsibility elsewhere, everyone knows that this was not a ‘well-laid trap’ as a disgraced former university president desperately claimed,” the Republican continued.
“It wasn’t a trap. It was the catastrophic failure of the university president on the global stage to answer a direct moral question. Have a good trip”.
While under Gay, a Jewish student had been surrounded by pro-Palestinian supporters who shouted “shame on him” as he walked to class, and the campus saw a doxxing truck pass by with faces of students blaming Israel for the Hamas attack. .
Gay again faced backlash after accusations of plagiarism plagued his 1997 doctoral thesis, where two journalists said he stole numerous parts of his thesis, which would directly violate Harvard’s academic integrity policy.
Documents obtained by journalists Christopher Rufo and Chris Brunet published in X compared Gay’s article with previous works by other authors and scholars, showing that some passages are nearly replicated.
During Gay’s tenure, a Jewish student was surrounded by pro-Palestinian supporters shouting “shame” as he walked to class, and a doxxing truck displaying the faces of students blaming Israel for the Hamas attack drove through campus. CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Gay dismissed the allegations in his op-ed.
“I believe that all academics deserve full and appropriate credit for their work. When I learned of these errors, I immediately requested corrections from the journals in which the flagged articles were published, consistent with how I have seen similar professor cases handled at Harvard,” he wrote.
“I have never misrepresented the results of my research, nor have I claimed credit for the research of others. Furthermore, citation errors should not obscure a fundamental truth: I proudly endorse my work and its impact on the field,” he added.
The former Harvard leader also issued a warning about “selfish agendas.”
“In tense moments, each of us must be more skeptical than ever of the loudest and most extreme voices in our culture, no matter how well organized or well connected they may be. “Too often they pursue selfish agendas that should be met with more questions and less credulity,” he wrote.
“Our country’s college campuses must continue to be places where students can learn, share and grow together, not spaces where proxy battles and political grandstanding take root. Universities must remain independent places where courage and reason come together to promote truth, regardless of the forces that oppose them.”
Gay had the shortest term as president of Harvard, serving just six months and one day. She was the first black leader at the country’s most prestigious university.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn