Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday she is “disappointed” that former Harvard President Claudine Gay stepped down from her position after accusations of plagiarism and “lawyerly” comments on antisemitism at the Cambridge institution.

A week after Gay resigned from the top spot at the university, Healey said Gay, former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, and MIT President Sally Kornbluth “rightly apologized” for comments they made at a Congressional hearing on how their institutions would respond to instances of antisemitism on campuses.

“Well, I was disappointed to see (Gay) step down. I was disappointed in the process. I was disappointed in the whole way all of this unfolded,” Healey said on GBH’s Boston Public Radio.

But the trio’s remarks, Healey said, “missed the moment in terms of where we need to be.”

“Because it’s absolutely clear, we need to denounce genocide and denounce antisemitism and denounce Islamophobia. And we need to make sure that students are safe on campus,” Healey said

There is a “systematic effort right now by some on the far right” to go after higher education, Healey said. And as for Gay, Healey said she thought the former Harvard president addressed plagiarism concerns.

“I thought she could continue to lead the university,” Healey said.

In a note to the Harvard community sent last week, Gay said stepping down six months into her tenure as president was not a decision she came to easily.

“After consultation with members of the 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,” she wrote in the letter.

Gay is still employed at Harvard University because of her tenured status.

Materials from the Associated Press were used in this report.