The furor over Harvard University President Claudine Gay refuses to die down. First, she embarrassed the Ivy League school by saying that the rampant anti-semitism on her campus and the calls for Israel to be removed from the earth needed to be taken in "context."
Amidst the backlash over that terrible take, folks started looking deeper into her background and discovered numerous instances of plagiarism. Then they found more, along with allegations of dubious scholarly behavior.
Harvard President Claudine Gay Finds Herself in More Hot Water Over Botched Study Allegations
Scholars Find Dozens More Examples of Plagiarism by Harvard President Claudine Gay
Despite the issues - and despite the fact that billionaire Israeli donor Idan Ofer and his wife Batia resigned from the board of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and early admissions to the school plunged 17 percent -- Harvard has continued to stand by their embattled leader.
On Saturday, the student-run Harvard Crimson weighed in, with their editorial board opining that Gay shouldn't resign because -- despite her obvious cheating -- she did not display "intent." The editorial board's view was not shared by all student journalists at the Crimson, though, as two dissenting op-eds argued the exact opposite.
The Harvard Crimson's official position that Claudine Gay shouldn't be dumped is sandwiched by two op-eds arguing the opposite. The text says one thing, the image says another. pic.twitter.com/qtljVN1OHp
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) December 31, 2023
The apologist editorial board's column admitted that Gay plagiarized on numerous occasions but argued that her violations were of the less serious variety and that she held no ill will in her heart. Let her off, they conclude.
A sober-minded assessment of the plagiarism charges indicates that Gay’s behavior constitutes plagiarism, but since the errors do not appear intentional, they do not warrant her resignation.
They give up the game later in the piece, however (bolding mine):
We also oppose President Gay’s resignation because we are not blind to what has driven this news cycle — a national outrage manufactured by conservative activists intent on discrediting higher education.
As a Board deeply dedicated to academic integrity, we take Gay’s plagiarism seriously. But it would be journalistic malpractice to comment on the allegations without noting that they have only generated such fierce uproar because bad-faith actors already wanted Gay’s head.
Ah, there you have it. Ignore the fact that she's a cheat and condoned antisemitism on her campus -- just don't let those evil conservative people win. Plus, it's a "manufactured" crisis. I'm surprised they didn't use the old stand-by, "Conservatives pounce!"
This is a lame effort to protect Gay, who they point out is "Harvard’s first Black president and second woman president," as if that has anything to do with the serious allegations at hand. How do they know her intent? When you repeatedly do the same thing over a period of years, to me that implies these were more than simple "mistakes."
There is a glimmer of hope left at Harvard, though, as some students seem to still maintain a semblance of logic. In one of the dissenting op-eds, "I Vote on Plagiarism Cases at Harvard College. Gay’s Getting off Easy," a voting member of the Harvard College Honor Council calls it like it is:
When my peers are found responsible for multiple instances of inadequate citation, they are often suspended for an academic year. When the president of their university is found responsible for the same types of infractions, the fellows of the Corporation “unanimously stand in support of” her.
There is one standard for me and my peers and another, much lower standard for our University’s president. The Corporation should resolve the double standard by demanding her resignation.
The other dissenting op-ed strikes a similar tone.
Claudine Gay has humiliated herself and the University, and the longer they back her, the more hypocritical they look. One of the people whose work Gay stole from agreed:
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