In the wake of the controversy surrounding Harvard President Claudine Gay's testimony on antisemitism before Congress, former President Barack Obama has reportedly stepped in to support her.
According to a confidential source who spoke to Jewish Insider, Obama, a Harvard alumnus, has been privately advocating for Gay following her congressional testimony on antisemitism and threats against Jewish students at the prestigious Ivy League institution.
The source described Obama's involvement as an effort to maintain stability within the broader administration. "It sounded like people were being asked to close ranks to keep the broader administration stableincluding its composition," the source revealed.
Gay's congressional appearance took place in early December before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. She was questioned on whether advocating for the genocide of Jews on campus would breach the university's codes of conduct related to bullying and harassment. Her assertion that the university's response to such conduct would depend on the "context" sparked widespread criticism on social media and elicited a response from the White House.
Following the hearing, Gay issued an apology. Despite calls for her resignation, the Harvard Corporation, the university's highest governing body, released a statement on December 12 supporting Gay. The board also addressed allegations of plagiarism concerning Gay's academic writing, which were first raised in October.
On Tuesday, Stacey Springs, Harvard's research integrity officer, reportedly received a complaint detailing over 40 allegations of plagiarism in Gay's academic works. These allegations ranged from missing quotation marks to entire paragraphs copied verbatim, according to a document obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
The Harvard Corporation released a summary of a review on Wednesday evening, stating that Gay will request three corrections from Harvard's Office of the Provost regarding her 1997 Ph.D. dissertation. The Harvard Crimson reported that the university found two additional instances of "duplicative language without appropriate attribution" through further review.
On the same day, Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., Chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, sent a letter to Penny Pritzker, Senior Fellow of the Harvard Corporation, demanding more information about the university's handling of plagiarism allegations against Gay and the "unequal application of Harvard's Honor Code."
The controversy has drawn attention to Pritzker, a former Obama administration official and Chicago hotel billionaire who donated $100 million to Harvard last month. Pritzker led the search committee that appointed Gay as president last December and praised her as a "remarkable leader." However, when questioned by reporters from the school newspaper about whether she believed Gay should step down, Pritzker avoided answering directly. Gay claimed to have Pritzker's "full support."
A Harvard source close to the issue told Jewish Insider, "What I hear is [Pritzker] has no intention of going down with the ship."
It remains unclear whether Pritzker, a vocal critic of Jewish persecution, discussed Obama's support for Gay during the Harvard Corporation's deliberation over Gay's future at the university.
Login