New Year, New Prez: Claudine Gay’s Resignation
Claudine Gay’s resignation falls short (“Harvard dropout,” Jan. 3).
She is not being fully held to account for her actions.
Not only did she inadequately deal with antisemitism on her campus, she sullied Harvard’s academic reputation with blatant plagiarism.
Instead of denouncing this, the Harvard Corporation praised her. I would be ashamed if I was sitting on that body, and I am ashamed of Gay for not adequately apologizing for her actions.
How is she allowed to remain on the faculty? If a student did what she did, he or she would be expelled. Why isn’t Gay held to the same standard? Mindy Rader
New City
Harvard has long had a sterling reputation, with the best and the brightest from around the world fighting to attend.
Admittance is practically a guarantee of incredible networking, leadership and business opportunities. These days, however, Harvard is better known for its woke “diversity, equity and inclusion” ideology.
Kudos to Bill Ackman and Rep. Elise Stefanik for being Harvard alums who led the fight to remove Gay and restore the school’s reputation. Paul Burgdorf
Latham
While plagiarism is not something I normally endorse, MIT President Sally Kornbluth would do well to copy Gay’s letter of resignation and submit it to her school’s board. Joseph Koenig
Manhattan
Despite The Post’s cover headline, Claudine Gay is not a dropout: She’s not even a “drop-down.” Gay will stay on as a professor and retain her “presidential” level salary of nearly $1 million a year. That’s the disappointing “veritas” of the situation. Julia Lutch
Davis, Calif.
When The New York Times and The Washington Post publish op-eds calling on Gay to resign, it is clearly not a “MAGA Republican” stunt, as some have suggested.
I’m sure that Gay has made positive contributions to Harvard over the years, but the fact remains that up until very recently she never admitted to plagiarism in her scholarship.
Plus, she delivered a speech before Congress that was worthy of a failing grade. David Tulanian
Henderson, Nev.
Gay’s supporters have begun to say that racism pushed her out the door. Gay is no victim here. She embarrassed herself on national television and in front of Congress. Then rumors of plagiarism started coming out of the woodwork.
The Harvard Corporation will need to do a better job in vetting the university’s next president.
Rev. Al Sharpton, who can never seem to resist jumping on the microphone, was at it again on Tuesday, when he said what happened to Gay was “an attack on every black woman in the country who puts a crack in the glass ceiling.”
Sharpton seemed to conveniently forget the 40-odd allegations of plagiarism that tipped the scales against the now-expresident. Sal Giarratani
Boston, Mass.
It was great to see that Gay finally resigned as Harvard’s president.
However, she will apparently still earn just short of $1 million as a professor. Quite the consolation prize.
Her history of plagiarism should disqualify her from holding any position at any institution of learning. Robert Feuerstein
Staten Island
Gay is staying on at Harvard as a teaching professor, perhaps unsurprisingly.
Some other Harvard luminaries include Chicago’s ex-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Brian Stelter of CNN and former Mayor Bill de Blasio. Harvard truly is a leader in “artificial intelligence.” Mike Santavicca
Yonkers
Harvard’s disgraced former president claimed in departing comments that she was committed to upholding scholarly rigor, but plagiarism and scholarly rigor are diametrically opposed.
Frank Brady, Yonkers
The potential loss of donations from alumni and benefactors is probably what pushed Gay over the edge.
I doubt Harvard will change in any appreciable way. Anthony Bruno
Smithtown