Uncertainty swirls around Claudine Gay's future as Harvard University President
The fate of Gay's presidency hangs in the balance following a tumultuous Board of Trustees meeting
Rumors circulate about Gay's ability to garner sufficient support, despite numerous faculty members rallying behind her in letters to administration.
Last week, Gay apologized for her questionable remarks before a House committee on December 5th, during which she, Magill, and MIT-Dean Sally Kornbluth failed to clearly state that advocating for a Jewish genocide violated the school's conduct code.
Harvard struggled to address the surge in antisemitic incidents on campus, despite recent accusations of antisemitism at the University of Pennsylvania being deemed the most serious. Regardless, a growing number of lawmakers, donors, and prominent figures call for Gay's resignation.
'One down, two to go.'
"One down, two more to go," Republican Representative Elise Stefanik from New York (formerly known as Twitter) wrote (previously Twitter), referring to Gay and Kornbluth. "I've asked President Gay 17 times if advocating for a Jewish genocide violates Harvard's code of conduct. She's lied 17 times. The world heard it."
Stefanik joined 71 bipartisan legislators in sending letters to Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT's trustees, urging them to remove Gay's leadership. Hundreds of faculty members have since signed a petition in support of Gay.
Gay has since apologized for her statements and told the student-run Harvard Crimson that "Words matter."
"I was engulfed in a heated exchange over policies and procedures," Gay said. "What I should have done calmly at that moment was to reaffirm my commitment that calls for violence against our Jewish community—threats against our Jewish students—have no place at Harvard and will never go unchallenged."
While some heavy donors remain unimpressed, particularly billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who is among Gay's harshest critics.
"Due to President Gay's failure to uphold Harvard's own rules and protect Jewish students, threatening, and even physical attacks against them have gone unpunished," Ackman wrote in an open letter to Harvard's trustees at the meeting on Sunday. "Given this, Harvard would consider Claudine Gay for the position? The answer is unequivocally 'no.' With this simple thought experiment, the trustees' decision regarding President Gay could not be clearer."
Harvard is one of several academic institutions facing criticism in the past few months due to alleged antisemitism on campus following the "terror attack" by Hamas on October 7 and Israel's response to Gaza. Harvard is also among 14 universities under investigation by the US Department of Education for alleged discrimination based on common descent—a term encompassing Islamophobia and antisemitism.
Gay, a political science scholar focusing on the intersection of politics and race, was appointed Harvard's 30th president in July.
Contrary to Gay, Magill faced criticism in the months leading up to his resignation in September, as donors demanded that Magill resign during deliberations over allowing speakers who had allegedly made antisemitic remarks at the University of Pennsylvania's "Palestinian Writing Literature Festival" on campus. These tensions have only intensified due to the current conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Gay has also addressed Jewish students' concerns.
On October 7, a coalition of student groups issued a statement, placing blame for Hamas' "terrible acts of brutality" on the Israeli government. This statement was sharply criticized by prominent business leaders and alumni who called for putting the students affiliated with the groups that signed the statement under academic sanctions.
Three days after the statement, Gay issued a clarification, condemning "the terrible acts of brutality committed by Hamas" and affirming that "no student group—not even 30 student groups—represents Harvard or its leadership."
In late October, Gay announced the formation of an advisory group made up of "faculty, staff, alumni, and religious leaders in the Jewish community" to help "thoughtfully and concretely consider the impact of antisemitism on our campus and our community."
While Gay's actions may make her more vulnerable to criticism, her willingness to take responsibility in the face of criticism may be a crucial factor in determining whether she ultimately remains in office.
Strong opposition from the community takes various forms.
Business leaders and alumni have criticized Gay and her colleagues for not taking sufficient action against antisemitism on campus. According to Gay, Ackerman called on Gay, Magill, and Kornbluth to resign "in disgrace."
Ackerman, a Harvard alumna, further challenged Gay's academic integrity and values by posting content on social media that suggested Gay was the first black woman at the helm of Harvard and had been appointed for diversity purposes.
In her Sunday open letter to the trustees, Ackerman contended that Gay had done more damage to Harvard than any person in the university's history by failing to condemn the "most barbaric and evil terrorism in the world." She also criticized Gay for supporting the actions of 34 student organizations that labeled Israel as culpable for the "barbaric acts" of Hamas instead of condemning them.
"The enforcement of Harvard's own conduct rules for students, combined with other leadership failures by President Guy, has contributed to an outbreak of antisemitism and hate on campus unlike anything in the history of Harvard," Ackerman wrote.
However, the majority of criticism from the Harvard community has regarded antisemitism on campus as a systemic problem rather than an ethical failure of Gay's leadership. In her testimony before Congress, Gay announced that she had assembled a task force composed of "faculty, staff, alumni, and religious leaders of the Jewish community" to help "thoughtfully and concretely consider the impact of antisemitism on our campus and our community."
Rabbi David Volpe, who resigned as head of the Harvard Anti-Semitism Advisory Committee, announced his resignation last week, citing the committee's characterization of Jews as oppressors and denial of Jewish experiences as neither a committee issue nor a university issue. "Firing someone or terminating someone does not change this," he wrote, emphasizing his belief in Gay as a kind and thoughtful individual.
Over 600 faculty members have signed a petition urging the university to oppose calls for Gay's resignation.
According to the annual report of Harvard University 2023, the institution has 1,068 tenured and tenure-track faculty members and 403 non-tenured faculty members.
In the petition, faculty members exhort the university to defend its independence against political pressure and maintain academic freedom, including opposition to calls for Gay's resignation. "Critical work for the defense of a culture of free research in our diverse community cannot take place if we allow external forces to dictate the terms of our leadership", the petition stated.
Some individual faculty members have also stated their support for Gay on social media in the past few days.
"Antisemitism at Harvard is definitely a real problem, but it's a systemic problem, and the calls for President Gay's resignation are misguided," Boaz Barak, a computer science professor, wrote on X.
Jason Furman, a professor of political economy and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration, tweeted, "I hope we don't let donors and politicians decide who leads our universities." He added that Gay had condemned the calls to genocide before, during, and after testifying before Congress.
"I'm actually optimistic, despite the criticism that President Gay is currently facing, about the commitment and support for building a more inclusive campus community that she has shown throughout her tenure," Furman said.
Jeffrey Friel, former dean of the Harvard Medical School, praised the principles of free speech, academic freedom, and civil discourse in a recent post.
Over 1,800 alumni have signed an open letter to Gay and Harvard dean Rakesh Khurana, urging specific reforms to support Jews on campus and threatening to withdraw their donations if these measures are not implemented.
Matt Egan from CNN contributed to this report.
Further Reading:
It remains to be seen whether Gay will succumb to the intensifying pressure against her, as critics cite questionable conduct and handling of antisemitic incidents on campus. However, supporters argue that her mandate as President serves to protect academic freedom and maintain the university's independence in the face of outside pressure.
