RuthieBarrett

On Jan. 2, the president of Harvard, Claudine Gay, resigned following weeks of controversy for what she said during a hearing over antisemitism on the Harvard campus and claims that she had plagiarized. 

According to the NPR report, during the hearing in front of the House Committee on Education on Dec. 5, Gay was asked whether or not the calling for the “genocide of Jews” on the Harvard campus was obstructing Harvard’s policies on bullying and harassment. Gay responded, “It can be, depending on the context.” 

This outraged many and people began calling for her resignation immediately. Gay did not give in to the criticism and made clear that she would stay. 

The controversy did not end there because later that week, reports that Gay had plagiarized multiple of her published papers in political science came to light. 

These claims caused more criticism because Harvard takes its policy on academic integrity extremely seriously. In their honor code, it explicitly mentions that, “We thus hold honesty – in the representation of our work and in our interactions with teachers, advisers, peers, and students – as the foundation of our community.”

Shruthi Kumar ’20 is a senior at Harvard and commented on the reaction she and her fellow classmates had at the news of President Gay. “I think we were all incredibly shocked.” 

Kumar mentioned that before they went home for winter break, Gay had just had her inauguration, so there was a sense of excitement around her presidency. 

Part of the reason students were celebrating her inauguration was because she was the first African American president at Harvard and only the second female to become president in the University’s 387-year history. 

“It was just a big deal for everyone to see representation at that level of leadership,” Kumar said. 

However, was she more harshly punished because she was an African American woman relatively new to the presidency? Her supporters have questioned how the outcome may have differed if she were a man, or if she had held the position for a longer time. 

Going forward, Kumar hopes that “the next Harvard president will uphold the same values and reflect the opinions of students more.” 

She added that she wants to see a president that “bridges the gap between the university body of students and faculty members.”

This scandal also brought into question the recent criticism for higher education as a whole. 

According to Gallup News, “Americans’ confidence in higher education has fallen to 36%.” These numbers have dropped since 2018 where 48% of Americans said they had confidence in higher education. 

Some of this drop in confidence is due to political division, higher costs and lack of access. 

As students begin making decisions about where to go to college, it is important to look at the school’s leadership and the values they hold.