Former Harvard President Doubles Down On Racism Claims In Scorched-Earth Op-Ed One Day After Ouster
Brandon Poulter on January 3, 2024
Claudine Gay once again cited racism as a reason for her resignation, doubling down on the claim in a Wednesday opinion piece published in The New York Times.
Gay resigned as the president of Harvard University Tuesday after a fourth round of plagiarism allegations and after submitting two rounds of corrections to her scholarly works in December. Gay cited “racial animus” as a reason for her resigning from the presidency in a Tuesday letter to the university community and also cited racism in her opinion piece, saying her detractors used “tired racial stereotypes,” according to the NYT.
“Never did I imagine needing to defend decades-old and broadly respected research, but the past several weeks have laid waste to truth. Those who had relentlessly campaigned to oust me since the fall often trafficked in lies and ad hominem insults, not reasoned argument. They recycled tired racial stereotypes about Black talent and temperament. They pushed a false narrative of indifference and incompetence,” Gay wrote in the NYT.
“I have never misrepresented my research findings, nor have I ever claimed credit for the research of others. Moreover, the citation errors should not obscure a fundamental truth: I proudly stand by my work and its impact on the field,” Gay continued.
Over 70 Democratic and Republican Representatives signed a letter calling for Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth to be removed from the universities after their testimony at a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing Dec. 5. An investigation was opened into the universities’ “learning environments, policies, and disciplinary procedures” following the hearing, and Magill resigned from her position as UPenn president on Dec. 9.
“It is not lost on me that I make an ideal canvas for projecting every anxiety about the generational and demographic changes unfolding on American campuses: a Black woman selected to lead a storied institution. Someone who views diversity as a source of institutional strength and dynamism,” Gay wrote.
“Someone who views diversity as a source of institutional strength and dynamism. Someone who has advocated a modern curriculum that spans from the frontier of quantum science to the long-neglected history of Asian Americans. Someone who believes that a daughter of Haitian immigrants has something to offer to the nation’s oldest university,” Gay continued.
Gay did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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