Weekly Briefing: Harvard's president resigns. Now what?

Claudine Gay seemed like she would hang onto her position. Then, the plagiarism accusations surfaced. ADVERTISEMENT [Weekly Briefing Logo]( You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. Or, if you no longer want to receive this newsletter, [unsubscribe](. Following a month of scrutiny, Harvard’s president resigns Claudine Gay (above) resigned from Harvard University this week, following scrutiny over alleged plagiarism in some of her scholarship and criticism of her performance at a [congressional hearing]( on campus antisemitism. Gay’s presidential tenure is the shortest in the institution’s history, The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper, [reported](. She was the university’s first Black president. “It has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual,” wrote Gay [in an email]( the Harvard community on Tuesday. What prompted her swift downfall? In December Gay was accused of lifting parts of text from other works without properly citing the authors or adding quotation marks. The claims were first reported then, and on Monday [The Washington Free Beacon]( wrote that the plagiarism allegations include eight works and that another complaint had been filled against Harvard. Still, several [scholars dismissed]( downplayed the severity of the claims made against Gay in earlier interviews with The Chronicle. Harvard previously said that it had investigated the plagiarism claims and found that Gay had not violated the university’s research-misconduct policy, but in some instances her work had “failed to adhere” to Harvard’s guide to using sources. The Harvard Corporation, one of two university governing bodies, said that Gay’s “inadequate citations” were “regrettable,” according to a statement provided to The Chronicle. Harvard said that Gay issued corrections to her [dissertation]( and to two journal articles. Gay is the second president to resign after testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce during a hearing about, among other things, antisemitism on campus. M. Elizabeth Magill [resigned as president]( of the University of Pennsylvania days after the hearing. The Harvard Corporation [said in a statement]( that it has accepted Gay’s resignation “with sorrow.” The statement also said that while Gay “acknowledged missteps and has taken responsibility for them,” she also showed “remarkable resilience in the face of deeply personal and sustained attacks.” Those attacks included racist comments made in emails and phone calls, the statement said. The reaction Christopher F. Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who first publicized the allegations of plagiarism in his [newsletter]( [posted on X]( “Today, we celebrate victory. Tomorrow, we get back to the fight. We must not stop until we have abolished DEI ideology from every institution in America.” Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican of North Carolina who chairs the House education committee, said [in a statement]( that Gay’s behavior was “academically dishonest,” but that the problems at the university went beyond Gay. “Postsecondary education is in a tailspin,” Foxx said in her statement. “There has been [a] hostile takeover of postsecondary education by political activists, woke faculty, and partisan administrators.” As more plagiarism allegations materialized, calls for Gay’s resignation were no longer limited to conservatives. Ruth Marcus, a columnist for The Washington Post, wrote an essay calling for Gay’s resignation, saying that her opinion changed as the claims grew. But academics who thought Gay’s research offenses were nonexistent or minor saw her resignation as a marker that Harvard had ceded to a right-wing smear campaign and failed to protect its first African American president. Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist behind The New York Times’s 1619 Project, whose tenure case at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill [drew national attention in 2021]( [posted on X]( Gay’s situation “is an extension of what happened to me at UNC, and it is a glimpse into the future.” “Academic freedom is under attack,” [wrote Hannah-Jones]( who is the Knight chair in race and journalism at Howard University. “Racial-justice programs are under attack. Black women will be made to pay. Our so-called allies too often lack any real courage.” [Read our Emma Pettit’s full story here](. ADVERTISEMENT NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. To read this newsletter as soon as it sends, [sign up]( to receive it in your email inbox. Lagniappe - Read. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray got its [fair share of praise in 2023](. The long novel — about 650 pages — focuses on all four members of an Irish family after the 2008 financial crash. When it’s over you may feel like you’re a part of the characters’ world. (The New York Times) - Listen. This episode of Snap Judgment will give you chills. One stormy night in Southern California a family heads to a cabin in the woods for a weekend away. Suddenly, [the family fear]( that they are not the only ones in the house. (Snap Judgment) —Fernanda SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. Chronicle Top Reads NEW SEMESTER [How to Teach a Good First Day of Class]( By James M. Lang [STORY IMAGE]( The first day of class is crucial both for your students and for you. 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