The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 3, 2024

Harvard President Claudine Gay Resigns After Mounting Right-Wing Attacks and Antisemitism Hearing
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harvard President Claudine Gay has resigned amid a mounting firestorm,
fueled by right-wing politicians and media, over free speech and support
for Palestinian rights on campus. Claudine Gay, Harvard's first Black
president, announced she was stepping down Tuesday, just six months into
her tenure and weeks after University of Pennsylvania President Liz
Magill's resignation. Both women resigned in the wake of last month's
congressional hearing on antisemitism, where they were grilled by
lawmakers, including far-right Congressmember Elise Stefanik, who
gloated, "TWO DOWN," on social media following yesterday's news. Sally
Kornbluth of MIT is the third president Stefanik is hoping to "take
down."

Following the hearing, conservative activists proceeded to smear Gay's
academic history, accusing her of plagiarism after uncovering instances
of inadequate citations in her work. In her resignation letter, Claudine
Gay wrote, "It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments
to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor … and frightening
to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial
animus." We'll have more on this story after headlines.


.