Not just anti-Semitism: why Harvard rejected the Gay rector
Harvard president Claudine Gay has resigned after allegations of anti-Semitism. The article by Gregory Alegi, historian and journalist, professor at Luiss Guido Carli
«AAA rector wanted.» Even though there is no physical sign in Harvard Square, the position of rector of the famous university is open today. Less than a month after the disastrous House hearing, Claudine Gay resigned . Upon taking office on July 1, 2022, she became Harvard's first black president. Concluding his mandate after 6 months and one day, he established the much less flattering record of the shortest presidency in the university's 363 years of existence.
GAY'S FAREWELL MESSAGE
In his farewell message, Gay said it was "terrifying to find yourself the subject of personal attacks and threats fueled by racial hatred." In reality, what brought it down were above all the perception of arrogant behavior and the growing indications of double standards in the application of the rules. The board of directors of the Harvard Corporation, the non-profit company that manages the university, granted her the honor of arms, welcoming her resignation with a statement full of praise for the work done. Then he turned the page, appointing Alan Garber, the current provost , as interim rector, a sort of president of the academic senate.
ANTISEMITISM AT HARVARD…
For the general public, what struck Gay down was his inability to protect the Harvard Jewish community, subject to growing attacks by pro-Palestinian organizations, especially following Israel's harsh reaction to the barbaric massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023. In fact, when pressed with questions about anti-Semitism by Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, ironically herself a Harvard graduate, Gay responded that any violation of the rules against racial hatred depended on the context. Before reneging on her statements, Gay had been targeted by politicians, pundits, benefactors and other stakeholders . Elizabeth Magill, the fellow president of the University of Pennsylvania, who had made similar statements, jumped right in. However, the Corporation had rallied around Gay, saving her.
… AND NOT ONLY
As the days passed, we learned that there was more to the suspicion of anti-Semitism. A few weeks before the hearing, Harvard had been informed that there were passages in Gay's academic publications that could constitute plagiarism under the university's very strict internal regulations. The report came from conservative circles, plausibly hostile to the champion of diversity, so Harvard had entrusted its lawyers with a flat denial with an attached threat of heavy damages. More than the cynical relativization of anti-Semitism, it was this that undermined the rector's position. Press and social media have revealed further passages copied from other authors, including – incredibly – the acknowledgments page of his doctoral thesis. The university responded by saying that some formal errors had been noted, which Gay had requested corrected.
Aside from the contradiction with the denial of a few days earlier, it was discovered that the verification of Gay's writings had not been entrusted to Harvard professors, as required by the rules, but to an external committee shrouded in mystery: no verifiable mandate, no name of members, no public reports. According to Gay's opponents, the complete opposite of what happens to normal students and professors. While the number of songs allegedly copied increased day by day, the Corporation remained entrenched. In doing so, they probably aided the besiegers. Yesterday, faced with reputational damage, a drop in registrations, the flight of donors and even the risk of having tax breaks revoked as a non-profit , Gay threw up his hands.
RESIGNATION AND THE REAL PROBLEM
If resignations close the crisis, they do not solve the problem. The controversy has in fact revealed how Gay had been chosen with an unusually rapid procedure, without a public description of the selection criteria, without verification of her writings (which were very few: just 11, without even a book, so much so as to make it difficult to understand her rapid rise to the professorship ). A shame for the entire Corporation, which in defending Gay seemed to defend its own hasty work. Precisely for this reason, finding his successor will be very difficult. Will it be possible to convince everyone that the choice of a black woman, a white male or perhaps a Jewish woman was made following objective rather than ideological criteria? Will Harvard be able to put academic merit back at the center without penalizing the criteria of inclusiveness and diversity?
WHAT ABOUT GAY? AND THE OTHER QUESTIONS WITHOUT ANSWER
It is also difficult to predict what will become of the 53-year-old Gay. Formally, he remains the " Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies ", which like all professorships created by benefactors offers prestige and higher salaries than normal. Returning to teaching is therefore her right, but the scars from the clash could make life on campus difficult for her. There are those who bet that within a couple of years she will be offered a substantial severance pay towards early retirement. Certainly the accusation of plagiarism bars the doors of many universities, but also of the boards of directors, well-paid conferences and consultancies which are usually quick to grab high-profile figures such as the former rectors of Harvard.
At the moment the most difficult questions remain unanswered: are there series A and series B minorities? Groups to which the rules apply and others to which they are interpreted? Decisions that depend on context and others that are absolute? Are all animals the same or, as Orwell had intuited, some are more equal than others? Professor Gay couldn't answer, and was rejected.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/dimissioni-claudine-gay-rettrice-harvard/ on Wed, 03 Jan 2024 06:47:09 +0000.