Harvard president resigns after testimony backlash

STORY: Harvard President Claudine Gay on Tuesday said she would resign from her position, ending a six-month tenure marred by allegations of plagiarism and backlash over her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus on December 5.

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY), SAYING:

"And Dr. Gay, at Harvard does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?"

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT, CLAUDINE GAY, SAYING:

"It can be depending on the context."

At the testimony, Gay and other university presidents were criticized for failing to definitively say that calls for the genocide of Jews constituted bullying and harassment on campus.

Gay, the first Black president in Harvard's 388-year history, had come under pressure to resign from Harvard's Jewish community and some members of Congress over her comments, while also facing several allegations of plagiarism for her academic work in recent months.

In a letter to the Harvard community, Gay said her decision to step down had been "difficult beyond words." Adding (quote):

"After consultation with members of the (Harvard) Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual."

The Harvard Corporation, the university's 11-member governing body, said in an email to the community that its members had accepted Gay's resignation "with sorrow," and that the school's provost and chief academic officer, Alan Garber, would take over as interim president.