Harvard president Claudine Gay, already under pressure to step down over anti-Semitism claims, faces plagiarism accusations
Pressure is mounting on Harvard University president Claudine Gay to resign amid accusations of plagiarism, only days after stating genocide calls of Jewish people did not constitute harassment.
Pressure is mounting on Harvard University president Claudine Gay to resign amid accusations of plagiarism, only days after she triggered a national political firestorm by stating campus calls for genocide of Jewish people did not necessarily constitute harassment.
Along with University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill, who has since resigned, and MIT president Sally Kornbluth, Professor Gay last week was widely condemned after suggesting whether genocide calls violated university rules “depended on context”.
The embattled university president apologised for her remarks but is yet to comment on new criticism of her academic work, including detailed claims or plagiarism and a lack of academic achievement given the seniority of the position she holds at one of America’s top institutions.
Elon Musk broadcast to his over 160 million followers on X detailed accusations by two journalists Christopher Rufo and Christopher Brunet that on at least three occasions in her 1997 Harvard university doctoral thesis then Ms Gay, 53, lifted sentences and paragraphs from other works.
Shocker 🙄 https://t.co/FGN6KkhnpF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 11, 2023
“If a current Harvard student were to commit violations of the same nature as Gay’s, it would lead to disciplinary action, up to and including requirement to withdraw from the College,” the two authors argued in a City Journal article published on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).
Numerous academics drew attention to Professor Gay’s brief list of publications: 11 published articles, which according to New Mexico psychology professor Geoffrey Miller, is “about the number you’d normally need to get hired as a first-year tenure-track assistant professor at a decent state university”.
A little rant about American universities, in the light on the recent Congressional testimony debacle:
— Geoffrey Miller (@primalpoly) December 7, 2023
Today I learned that Harvard President Claudine Gay seems to have published only 11 peer-reviewed journal papers in her entire academic career.
'So what?', you might ask.…
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a major donor who has also called for Professor Gay’s resignation, said he asked a senior Harvard professor to examine the allegations of plagiarism”.
“The faculty member found them to be credible,” Mr Ackman wrote on X. Professor Gay hasn’t responded to the journalists’ request for comment.
“Knowing what we know now, would Harvard consider Claudine Gay for the position? The answer is definitively “No.” With this simple thought experiment, the board’s decision on President Gay could not be more straightforward.
“In her short tenure as President, Claudine Gay has done more damage to the reputation of Harvard University than any individual in our nearly 500-year history,” Mr Ackman added his correspondence to Harvard’s board of directors.
More than 70 members of congress from both major political parties called for Professor Gay to resign last week, prompting a forthcoming congressional inquiry into antisemitism at top US universities.
Harvard President Claudine Gay's h-index (a widely used metric that measures a scholar's productivity and impact) is 10. Mine is 12, and I haven't been in academia since early 2020.
— Colin Wright (@SwipeWright) December 11, 2023
This isn't a brag; 12 isn't a particularly high score, which is my point. pic.twitter.com/Zlg7bYlS0f
“One down. Two to go,” Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York wrote Saturday on X, following professor Magill’s resignation.
Harvard faculty and alumni since rallied behind the embattled university leader.
“The critical work of defending a culture of free inquiry in our diverse community cannot proceed if we let its shape be dictated by outside forces,” read a letter signed by over 600 of Harvard’s academics published in the student newspaper.
The university alumni association said it stood by professor Gay “unequivocally”.
“President Gay is the right leader to guide the University during this challenging time,” the committee wrote in a letter to university officials, who have been besieged with complaints from donors who according to Mr Ackman have already slashed donations by $1 billion.
Former Harvard president Larry Summers, earlier US treasury secretary, resigned from his position in 2006 after canvassing the possibility of cognitive differences between men and women at the upper echelons of mathematics and science.
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