Former Harvard University President Claudine Guy admitted – the day after her resignation – that she had made mistakes, but considered that she had been the target of a continuing campaign “of lies and insults.”
Last Tuesday, Gay resigned from her position after she was subjected to fierce attack because of her testimony in Congress about anti-Semitism during protests in support of Gaza on campus, as well as accusations of plagiarism.
Last July, the political science professor became the first black president of the prestigious university located near Boston.
“Those who have campaigned relentlessly to remove me since the fall have often used lies and personal insults, not logical arguments,” she wrote in an op-ed published by The New York Times.
She added, “The campaign against me went beyond just a university or a president. It was a skirmish in a broader war aimed at undermining public confidence in the pillars of American society.”
On December 5, in a tense atmosphere, Claudine Guy, along with the presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sally Kornbluth, and the University of Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Magill, answered questions from parliamentarians over a period of 5 hours.
Pressure
Gay, Magill, and Kornbluth were subjected to pressure and criticism to resign, because they refused to consider the protests against Israel as anti-Semitic, while Gay’s response – along with the response of her two colleagues – to freedom of expression on universities sparked a controversy whose repercussions reached the White House.
The president of the University of Pennsylvania had previously resigned from her position “voluntarily,” as announced by Scott Bock, Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees, agreeing to remain in her position until an interim president is appointed.
Gay has come under criticism in recent months after reports emerged that she did not properly cite scientific sources. The latest accusations were published Tuesday by an anonymous source on a conservative online media outlet.
More than 70 representatives, including two Democrats, called for her resignation, while a number of prominent Harvard graduates and donors called for her to leave office.
In return, more than 700 Harvard faculty members signed a letter supporting Gay.