Harvard University has been accused of concealing a high-level investigation into allegations of plagiarism against its President, Claudine Gay.
The Ivy League institution also reportedly threatened the New York Post with legal action from a high-priced law firm in response to the newspaper's inquiries into the matter.
The university remained silent for weeks, failing to acknowledge that Gay was under investigation. This silence persisted even as Gay delivered a poorly received testimony on antisemitism at a congressional hearing last week, as reported by the New York Post.
However, following new allegations, Harvard admitted on Tuesday that it had previously investigated Gay for plagiarism. The investigation was initiated in late October after the university became aware of the allegations against its President.
The New York Post reported that Harvard's statement did not disclose the full extent of the situation, including the university's enlistment of aggressive legal representation to defend Gay.
Reporters from the New York Post contacted Harvard on October 24 after receiving an anonymous tip-off. They sought comment on over two dozen instances where Gay's work appeared to be plagiarized. Jonathan Swain, Harvard's senior executive director of media relations and communications, and former member of the Biden-Harris transition team and Hillary Clinton aide, asked for more time to review Gay's work. He promised to respond within a few days but failed to do so.
Two days later, the Post received a 15-page letter from Thomas Clare, a prominent Virginia-based attorney with Clare-Locke, who identified himself as the defamation counsel for Harvard University and Gay.
As reported by Breitbart News, Harvard revealed the investigation through a statement from its governing body, the Harvard Corporation. The statement affirmed the university's unanimous support for Gay, despite her involvement in multiple scandals.
In the statement, Harvard disclosed that it had previously initiated an investigation into Gay's academic work for potential plagiarism. The university cleared Gay of violating its research misconduct standards.
Harvard announced that Gay would request four corrections in two publications to include citations and quotation marks that were previously omitted.
The statement was released a day after conservative activist and Critical Race Theory expert Christopher Rufo raised concerns about possible plagiarism in Gay's Ph.D. dissertation.
Harvard has not yet disclosed which works its President is seeking to correct, or whether Gay's dissertation will be amended.
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