Harvard University’s president, Claudine Gay, will remain in her position despite the growing controversy surrounding her appearance before Congress last week. Dr. Gay was under pressure to resign after she failed to say whether students who advocated for the genocide of Jews would face disciplinary action.
Claudine Gay testified at a House of Representatives hearing on antisemitism
However, nearly 700 staff members supported her in a letter sent over the weekend.
The school board said in a statement on Tuesday that it was “reaffirm[ing] our support” for her leadership.
“Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing,” said the Harvard Corporation, the highest governing board at the university.
“In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay,” the 13-member board added.
The announcement that Dr. Gay will remain president comes just days after the president of the University of Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Magill, announced her resignation following a similar backlash over her congressional testimony.
Dr. Gay testified last week at a House of Representatives hearing on antisemitism alongside Ms. Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth.
During tense questioning from Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Dr. Gay stated that she thought calls for the genocide of Jews were abhorrent but that whether it would violate Harvard’s code of conduct regarding bullying and harassment depended on the context.
In an interview with Harvard’s campus newspaper, the Crimson, shortly after, she apologized.
“When words amplify distress and pain, I don’t know how you could feel anything but regret,” she said.
Harvard’s president had apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony
The Harvard Corporation said in a statement that calls for genocide were “despicable,” and that Dr Gay’s initial statement “should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation.”
However, the school noted that Harvard’s president had apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony.
“Harvard’s mission is to advance knowledge, research, and discovery that will help address deep societal issues and promote constructive discourse, and we are confident that President Gay will lead Harvard forward toward accomplishing this vital work,” the board said.
Over the weekend, nearly 700 faculty members signed a petition urging Harvard to “resist political pressures that are at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom” and retain Dr. Gay as president.
Harvard faculty and alumni had written letters in support of Dr. Gay, including dozens of black faculty members who argued that some of the president’s accusations were “specious and politically motivated.”
But, according to Harvard Hillel, a Jewish advocacy group on campus, her failure to condemn calls for genocide was “profoundly shocking.” According to the statement, “President Gay’s failure to properly condemn this speech calls into question her ability to protect Jewish students” at the university.
Meanwhile, more than 70 lawmakers, mostly Republicans, demanded Dr. Gay to resign, calling the university president’s answers at the hearing “abhorrent.”