Source:
Kevin
Dietsch
/
Getty
The
board
at
Harvard
University
affirmed
that
its
first
Black
president,
Claudine
Gay,
will
be
staying
on
after
calls
for
her
to
resign
On
Tuesday
(Dec.
12),
members
of
the
Harvard
Corporation
announced
that
they
had
decided
that
Dr.
Claudine
Gay
would
be
staying
on
as
president
of
Harvard
University.
There
was
a
concerted
effort
calling
for
her
to
resign
in
the
wake
of
her
answers
last
week
as
she
appeared
before
a
congressional
hearing
over
rising
antisemitism.
Dr.
Gay
appeared
before
a
congressional
hearing
called
by
the
House
Committee
on
Education
Tuesday
(Dec.
5)
along
with
two
other
university
presidents
–
Liz
Magill
of
the
University
of
Pennsylvania
and
Sally
Kornbluth
of
the
Massachusetts
Institute
of
Technology.
Republican
Representative
Elise
Stefanik
of
New
York
pressed
Dr.
Gay
with
hypothetical
questions.
“At
Harvard,”
Ms.
Stefanik
asked,
“does
calling
for
the
genocide
of
Jews
violate
Harvard’s
rules
of
bullying
and
harassment?
Yes
or
no?”
Dr.
Gay
answered,
“It
can
be,
depending
on
the
context.”
After
another
similar
answer,
numerous
alumni
called
for
Gay
to
resign
as
Magill
did
after
her
appearance
on
Capitol
Hill.
“As
members
of
the
Harvard
Corporation,
we
today
reaffirm
our
support
for
President
Gay’s
continued
leadership
of
Harvard
University,”
said
a
statement
signed
by
each
member
of
the
board
with
the
exception
of
Dr.
Gay.
“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
statement
did
go
on
to
acknowledge
that
Dr.
Gay
had
erred
a
few
times
in
response
to
the
conflict
in
Gaza
sparked
by
the
Hamas
militant
organization’s
terror
attack
on
Oct.
7.
Acknowledging
that
she
had
been
caught
up
by
her
exchange
with
Stefanik,
Dr.
Gay
did
say
in
the
Harvard
Crimson
that
she
should’ve
planned
to
“return
to
my
guiding
truth,
which
is
that
calls
for
violence
against
our
Jewish
community
—
threats
to
our
Jewish
students
—
have
no
place
at
Harvard
and
will
never
go
unchallenged.”
Dr.
Gay
did
have
a
slew
of
supporters,
particularly
from
Black
faculty
members
at
the
university
who
deemed
the
attacks
by
Stefanik
as
“specious
and
politically
motivated.”
They
along
with
hundreds
of
alumni
petitioned
that
she
“should
be
given
the
chance
to
fulfill
her
term
to
demonstrate
her
vision
for
Harvard.”
