Harvard University alums say President Claudine Gay should resign after ‘shocking’ testimony about antisemitism on campus
Harvard University’s president is facing major heat after her “stunning and utterly disappointing” Congressional testimony about rising antisemitism on college campuses, as alums call on the embattled prez to resign.
President Claudine Gay on Tuesday testified in front of a House committee following the recent spike of antisemitism in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel. Jewish and Israeli students have been threatened and assaulted on campuses since the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
Gay at the hearing was eviscerated by Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who continued to ask the Harvard president whether student protesters calling for the genocide of Jews is allowed on campus.
Gay reiterated that the campus protects free speech, even of views that are offensive and hateful. She refused to characterize calls for the genocide of Jews as a breach of Harvard’s code of conduct, instead saying the offense depends on the context.
Her testimony was “stunning and utterly disappointing,” Harvard Hillel President Jacob Miller said as the Jewish student group called on Gay to take action against those using threatening speech.
“President Gay’s refusal to draw a line around threatening antisemitic speech as a violation of Harvard’s policies is profoundly shocking given explicit provisions within the conduct code prohibiting this kind of bullying and harassment,” Harvard Hillel posted. “We are appalled by the need to state the obvious: A call for genocide against Jews is always a hateful incitement of violence.
“President Gay’s failure to properly condemn this speech calls into question her ability to protect Jewish students on Harvard’s campus,” Harvard Hillel added.
Stefanik, a Harvard alum, during the House hearing called on Gay to resign.
Other Harvard alums are also saying Gay must step down, including billionaire Bill Ackman who said after the hearing, “She has to go now.”
Ackman also ripped into the leaders of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, who testified at the hearing.
“The answers they gave reflect the profound moral bankruptcy of Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth,” Ackman posted on social media, who later added, “This could be the most extraordinary testimony ever elicited in the Congress, certainly on the topic of genocide.”
“The presidents’ answers reflect the profound educational, moral and ethical failures that pervade certain of our elite educational institutions due in large part to their failed leadership… They must all resign in disgrace,” he posted. “If a CEO of one of our companies gave a similar answer, he or she would be toast within the hour. Why has antisemitism exploded on campus and around the world? Because of leaders like Presidents Gay, Magill and Kornbluth who believe genocide depends on the context.”
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The presidents of @Harvard, @MIT, and @Penn were all asked the following question under oath at today’s congressional hearing on antisemitism:
Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate [your university’s] code of conduct or rules regarding bullying or harassment?
The… pic.twitter.com/eVlPCHMcVZ
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) December 5, 2023
Massachusetts Congressmen Jake Auchincloss and Seth Moulton issued a joint statement in reaction to the House hearing.
“Harvard ranks last out of 248 universities for support of free speech,” the congressmen said. “But when it comes to denouncing antisemitism, suddenly the university has anxieties about the First Amendment. It rings hollow.”