After weeks of demanding her resignation over her response to anti-Semitism on campus and her testimony on the matter at a heated House committee in December, Republican leaders hailed Harvard University president Claudine Gay’s resignation.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Harvard University website published Gay’s resignation letter.
GOP conference chair Rep. Elise Stefanik remarked on X, formerly Twitter, that “this long overdue forced resignation of the antisemitic plagiarist president is just the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history.” This was followed by the long-awaited forced resignation of Harvard’s president.
Following the House Education and Workforce Committee’s investigation into colleges’ reactions to antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Gay becomes the second college president to resign since the hearing on Dec. 6. Four days subsequent to the hearing, Liz Magill, president of the University of Pennsylvania, resigned.
The now-former university president is facing accusations of plagiarism and was further scrutinised by Stefanik during her appearance before the committee, who grilled Gay.
In answer to Stefanik’s questions, Gay stated that, “depending on the context,” it might or might not be a violation of university policies on bullying and harassment to call for the annihilation of Jews. The remarks provoked strong condemnation from members of Congress, the Harvard community, and the general public, leading to demands for Gay’s resignation, notwithstanding her subsequent apology.
“This is the right move,” other Republicans agreed with Stefanik. The administrations of our nation’s universities have gone completely awakened and tolerate anti-Semitism freely. “Many should step down,” wrote Andy Biggs, a representative from Arizona.
Ralph Norman, a representative from South Carolina, stated, “She was a total disgrace to her profession.”
