Claudine Gay will not step down due to antisemitism testimony

The Harvard, Penn and MIT presidents of the University of Pennsylvania are under fire after the Israel-Hamas congressional hearing on antisemitism

Some are in favor of their departure. A growing number of students and faculty oppose the calls for the presidents to go, arguing that such measures go against school values around independence and freedom speech.

There is controversy at Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania because of last week’s congressional hearing about antisemitism.

On Saturday, the president of the University of Pennsylvania resigned following backlash to her testimony before the House.

Critics said the Harvard president’s answers fell short and cast doubt on whether Gay was equipped to protect the university’s Jewish students at a moment of rising antisemitism stemming from the war in Gaza. Gay apologized for her comments in an interview with Harvard’s The Crimson two days after the hearing.

“This wasn’t the first incident,” he said. There’s been no action despite the fact that the president of Harvard and other presidents have been made aware of the incidents.

Gottheimer was one of the 74 members of Congress who signed a letter last week urging the governing boards of Harvard, Penn and MIT to remove their presidents. Congress continues to investigate their policies and disciplinary procedures.

Bill Ackman wrote a letter to Harvard’s governing boards complaining about Gay damaging the university’s reputation.

“The presidents of MIT, Harvard and UPenn were under fire in a tense, polarized Congressional hearing. That’s a unique and different environment for most college presidents, according to a communications professor.

That’s not only a challenge to navigate for peers, but also for university presidents, who are balancing the interests of students, faculty, donors and even lawmakers.

Angus Johnston, a historian of American student activism at Hostos Community College of The City University of New York, said no issue in recent decades has divided student activists within the same school like the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The MIT Corporation said that she has done excellent work in leading our community, including in addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate. “She has our full and unreserved support.”

“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,” the letter said, according to Alison Frank Johnson, a history professor at Harvard who co-authored it.

The Harvard Alumni Association asked the university’s governing boards to publicly support Gay after expressing their support for him on Monday.

“Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing,” the board, known as the Harvard Corporation, said on Tuesday.

“If you want to effectively communicate with a wide range of constituencies, ten-second clips of viral videos is the way to go,” Shepard said.

The American Jewish Code of Conduct (ADCP): The Case for Claudine Gay and the Problem of Distaining Antisemitism

“Knowing what we know now, would Harvard consider Claudine Gay for the position? He said that the decision to fire Gay could not be more straightforward.

Earlier on Sunday, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who posed the question around the schools’ code of conduct, ominously wrote on X: “One down. Two to go.” She urged Harvard and MIT to do the right thing. The world is watching.

Gay said that antisemitic rhetoric, when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bully, harassment, intimidation, and we do take action.

“I got caught up in what had become at that point, an extended, combative exchange about policies and procedures,” she said to the Crimson. “I should have had the presence of mind to state that my guiding principle is that calls for violence against our Jewish community are not welcome at Harvard or anywhere else, and will never be accepted,” he said.

Following the outrage, Gay said in a video that she wholeheartedly condemned the “barbaric atrocities perpetrated by Hamas.” She talked about grace and freedom of speech.