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Harvard students now calling for embattled president to step down over plagiarism claims

December 31, 2023 | | Print Article

Some Harvard University students are beginning to speak out about the controversy surrounding school president Claudine Gay.

As previously reported, Gay has been under fire ever since she testified to Congress that whether or not to allow students to call for the genocide of Jews would depend on so-called “context.”

Her remarks prompted a furor that resulted in sleuths discovering that much of her academic work contained plagiarized content from others.

Despite this, the school and its governing body, the Harvard Corporation, have stood by Gay, much to the chagrin of many Harvard alumni and some current Harvard students.

Take Ian M. Moore, an editor for the school’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.

“It’s hypocritical for the university to apply one standard to students and another standard to faculty — and perhaps even a third standard to Claudine Gay,” he told the paper.

Student Irati Egorho Diez agreed, saying she was originally “quite charitable” to Gay but that her position “quickly shifted” once she realized the “breath of depth” of the school president’s plagiarism.

“It really seemed to be something that permeated much of her academic work,”” she said. “I do think that the role of the president should be an embodiment of the values of Harvard College. And this, to me, seems to be the opposite of that.”

Then there’s Kendall E. Carll, a student who reportedly wrote in an email that while Gay’s “faulty academic record” isn’t enough to justify her resigning or being booted, the focus on her plagiarism “misses the forest for the trees.”

“It is another false-step in a series of recent setbacks,” she wrote. “And while Gay’s impulse to brave the store is admirable, it’s hard to see how the administration can erase the stains on its record, reestablish its authority and legitimacy, and get back to focusing on the university.”

“Doing so would be an impressive feat. Stepping down would be a humble offering to the university’s future,” she added.

While these comments are refreshing, they, sadly, are not representative of The Harvard Crimson’s own board, which published an editorial late Saturday arguing that Gay’s plagiarism isn’t “equal” to other people’s plagiarism.

“ll plagiarism is wrong and antithetical to our University’s academic mission. But not all plagiarism is equal,” they wrote.

“Plagiarism offenses lie on a spectrum. As defined by Harvard’s undergraduate ‘Guide to Using Sources,’ it includes both misrepresentations of others’ ideas as one’s own and misattribution of borrowed material. Both matter, but the latter category, into which Gay’s allegations fall, is less serious by far,” they added.

The board went on to accuse all of her many, many, many critics, which include both Republicans and Democrats, of acting in “bad faith.”

“Many of the recent calls for Gay’s resignation suggest or allege outright that she was a ‘diversity hire’ or a product of ‘DEI extremism.’ The blatant racism of these criticisms only corroborates that they come in bad faith,” the piece reads.

“Not only is that insulting and unfair — it is patently untrue. Gay’s top-quality scholarship and four years of experience leading Harvard’s largest administrative unit make her eminently qualified for her post. Most importantly, Gay rose to the top of a presidential search that included dozens of highly-qualified candidates and surely other highly-qualified candidates of color,” it continues.

While this op-ed had received little coverage by Sunday morning, criticism was already beginning to pour in.

Look:

Not factored in by the paper’s board was how Gay’s victims felt. Take retired Vanderbilt University professor of political science Dr. Carol M. Swain, a conservative black woman who was plagiarized by Gay.

In tweets posted earlier this month, she called for Gay’s immediate termination.

Look:

Vivek Saxena
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