Harvard President Claudine Gay Attends Campus Menorah Lighting After Antisemitism Allegations
Harvard University President Claudine Gay attended a campus menorah lighting ceremony this week amid the antisemitism allegations against her.
Dec. 14 2023, Published 1:15 p.m. ET
Harvard University President Claudine Gay attended a campus menorah lighting ceremony this week amid the antisemitism allegations against her, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a surprising development to come one day after Harvard announced that Gay would retain her job despite the antisemitism backlash, the 53-year-old university president appeared at a menorah lighting on the Ivy League school campus on Wednesday night.
Harvard announced on Tuesday that Gay would retain her job despite the antisemitism backlash.
According to the New York Post, Gay lit the first menorah candle during the ceremony that was held at Harvard Park and attended by roughly 100 students and faculty members.
Gay first came under fire earlier this month when she testified before Congress about controversial and allegedly antisemitic demonstrations taking place at Harvard in response to the Israel-Hamas war unfolding in Gaza.
The Harvard president argued that the antisemitic demonstrations were protected under the university’s policies regarding free speech, and she vowed to protect those policies despite the backlash Harvard and several other prestigious American schools were receiving.
“We embrace a commitment to free expression – even views that are objectionable, offensive, and hateful,” she said regarding the matter.
Gay lit the first menorah candle during the ceremony that was held at Harvard Park and attended by roughly 100 students and faculty members.
“It’s when that speech crosses into conduct that violates our policies against bullying and harassment,” Gay continued. “That speech did not cross that barrier.”
Harvard reportedly lost an estimated $1 billion in donations following Gay’s congressional testimony. The Ivy League institution also faced mounting calls for President Gay to resign.
Despite the allegations and backlash, Harvard’s highest governing body announced this week that Gay would retain her role as the university’s president.
“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University,” the Harvard Corporation said on Tuesday.
Gay came under fire for defending antisemitic demonstrations at Harvard as free speech.
“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 group added in a statement.
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Meanwhile, the Harvard Corporation also broke its silence on allegations that Gay plagiarized portions of her 1997 Ph.D. thesis, Taking Charge: Black Electoral Success and the Redefinition of American Politics.
“On December 9, the Fellows reviewed the results, which revealed a few instances of inadequate citation,” the group said regarding the plagiarism allegations against Gay.
The embattled Harvard president was also accused of plagiarizing parts of her 1997 Ph.D. thesis.
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“While the analysis found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct, President Gay is proactively requesting four corrections in two articles to insert citations and quotation marks that were omitted from the original publications,” they added.
Harvard reiterated its support for Gay amid the ongoing antisemitism and plagiarism controversies and signaled that the university has no plans to axe the embattled president.
“In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay,” the school said.
“Harvard’s mission is advancing knowledge, research, and discovery that will help address deep societal issues and promote constructive discourse, and we are confident that President Gay will lead Harvard forward toward accomplishing this vital work.”
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