
Harvard president resigns amid testimony controversy
Clip: 1/2/2024 | 5m 57sVideo has Closed Captions
Harvard president resigns amid controversy over antisemitism testimony, plagiarism claims
After weeks of intense scrutiny, Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned Tuesday. It comes after she was criticized for testimony during a congressional hearing on rising anti-semitism on campus and alleged plagiarism in her academic writings. Gay was the first Black leader of Harvard and now has the shortest tenure. William Brangham discussed more with Hilary Burns of the Boston Globe.
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Harvard president resigns amid testimony controversy
Clip: 1/2/2024 | 5m 57sVideo has Closed Captions
After weeks of intense scrutiny, Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned Tuesday. It comes after she was criticized for testimony during a congressional hearing on rising anti-semitism on campus and alleged plagiarism in her academic writings. Gay was the first Black leader of Harvard and now has the shortest tenure. William Brangham discussed more with Hilary Burns of the Boston Globe.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipHarvard University President# Claudine Gay resigned today.
William Brangham has the latest.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Gay's resignation came after She was heavily criticized for her testimony# during a congressional hearing about rising## antisemitism on college campuses and Harvard# University's response to it.
Separately,## critics alleged she plagiarized# some of her academic writings## and revealed examples where she borrowed# some exact language from other scholars.
Gay denied plagiarizing anyone, but said# she would add more citations to some of## her previous works.
She was the first# Black leader of Harvard and now has had## the shortest tenure of any Harvard president.# Harvard's provost and chief academic officer,## Alan Garber, will serve as interim president.
Hilary Burns of The Boston Globe has been# covering all this, and she join Claudine Gay was under fire for weeks, but# seemed to have kept her job until today,## when new plagiarism revelations emerged.# Is that what finally broke the dam here?
HILARY BURNS, The Boston# Globe: I think that's right.
Claudine Gay Hamas attack on Israel.
She's been criticized for# not doing enough to combat antisemitism on campus## amid pro-Palestinian protests.
And then there was# the botched congressional hearing on December 5.
She survived that hearing largely because# of support from faculty and students.
But,## in recent weeks, there's been this near-constant## drumbeat of plagiarism accusations,# and support of G WILLIAM BRANGHAM: On these plagiarism# accusations, some of Gay's supporters said,## everyone needs to recognize that these were# ideological opponents of Gay's who were bringing## out these accusations, and they were against# her and her push for diversity at Harvard.
But of the many plagiarism examples cited --# for instance, if I was a student at Harvard and## had done some of the things she has been found# to have done, what would have happened to me?
HILARY BURNS: That's a good question.
Students at Harvard face discipli plagiarism.
It's taken very seriously.# So many within the Harvard community have## said this appears to be a double standard,# where students are held to this high bar,## and here is the president of the university# with dozens of accusations against her work.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want to read an# excerpt of Gay's resignation letter here.
She said: "It has been distressing to have doubt# cast on my commitments to confronting hate and## upholding scholarly rigor, two bedrock# values that are fundamental to who I am,## and frightening to be subjected to personal# attacks and threats fueled by racial animus."
I mean, the Harvard Corporation# alluded to the racist vitriol## that had been directed towards Gay as# well.
And many of her suppor we can't overlook the fact that this was a Black# woman that was subject to all of these attacks.
HILARY BURNS: That's right.
Sh accusations and criticism of her at large.
I think# that the fact that the plagiarism accusations were## first reported by a conservative outlet and# then pushed out by conservative activists,## that definitely played a role in the feeling# that there was a political agenda at play here.
And I think that that really confused# members within the Harvard community,## who said, on the one hand, some of these# plagiarism accusations look serious, and,## on the other hand we don't want# politicians or anyone outside## of the university meddling in our# business and telling us what to do.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want to just double back# to this issue of the antisemitism at Harvard.
And, as you mentioned, there was this criticism# of antisemitic incidents that were happening## at Harvard and the university's response to# it, as well as her congressional testimony,## which, as you alluded to, she seemed to be# making very lawyerly responses to questions## over whether or not it was OK for anyone# on campus to call for the genocide of Jews.
What does your reporting tell# you about how central that## really was to the attacks on her# and to her eventual HILARY BURNS: Well, we don't know exactly at this## point what the straw that# broke the camel's back but we know that coming -- before the plagiarism# accusations, Gay was coming from a d She was already facing so much backlash# for that congressional hearing.
Donors,## alumni were very unhappy with how# things were going at Harvard.
They## saw very frequent pro-Palestinian rallies,# big rallies with hundreds or even over## 1,000 students participating in a couple of# instances, that were calling for a cease-fire.
And they were questioning how this# pro-Palestinian point of view could## be so mainstream at Harvard.
So it's been a# really complicated and tumultuous path for## her since October 7, and the scandals# have really overlapped at this point.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Hilary# Burns of The Boston Globe, really## appreciate you helping us navigate# HI LARY BURNS: Thank you for having me.
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