Presidents from three of the nation’s largest universities testified before Congress recently. They were forced to explain why they were allowing anti-Semitism to spread on their campuses.
Americans were shocked to hear these school presidents seemingly defend hatred against the Jewish people.
One of them, President Claudine Gay of Harvard, faced further controversy when some accused her of plagiarism. Now, the school is responding to calls to remove her from her position.
Harvard University president Claudine Gay is going to keep her position — for now — despite failing to tackle antisemitism on campus, and despite failing to state that calling for the genocide of Jews would violate Harvard’s code of conduct.
In the days since her disastrous testimony in Congress last Tuesday, Gay has tried to clean up her statements, and has apologized. “What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth,” she said.
But as the Harvard Corporation — the governing body of the university — met for a scheduled gathering on Monday, Gay received the support of the full executive committee of the Harvard Alumni Association. Hundreds of faculty members and black alumni also signed letters of support. [Source: Breitbart]
Despite triggering backlash over failures to prevent the spread of anti-Semitism—and accusations of plagiarism—the Harvard Corporation is supporting President Claudine Gay. This board that oversees the university is led by Penny Pritzker, a former Obama administration official.
The school is not only ignoring Gay’s inability or unwillingness to confront anti-Semitism, but they seem to be dismissing evidence that she plagiarized content in her writings. Instead of any kind of reprimand, the board is requiring Gay to “amend” two publications that contain the alleged plagiarism.
Critics will no doubt point out that the Harvard Corporation is controlled by liberals. Some might suggest that Gay is able to keep her job—while the President of UPenn resigned—because she is a woman of color.
But this will most likely not scrub away the controversy of the last few weeks. Numerous Americans have spoken out against universities where anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity have been allowed to flourish. Even wealthy donors are pulling support. It does not seem as if these colleges are willing to confront this anti-Semitic movement.
Author: Bo Dogan
