For Harvard’s first black president, race became an unavoidable issue
At her inauguration in late September, Claudine Gay looked to a packed audience and spoke of her pride in making history as Harvard’s first black president in its 387 years.
“I stand before you on this stage, in this distinguished company and beautiful theater,” she said before continuing, “with the weight and honor of being a ‘first’ – able to say, ‘I am Claudine Gay , the president of Harvard. University.'”
After her dismissal on Tuesday, she spoke about race very differently. “Those who have campaigned relentlessly to oust me since the fall have often trafficked in lies and ad hominem insults, not reasoned arguments,” she wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times on Wednesday. “They recycled tired racial stereotypes about black talent and temperament. They advanced a false narrative of indifference and incompetence.”
The painful and surprising story of Dr. Gay’s brief presidency sparks debate about plagiarism, honesty, anti-Semitism and leadership. But also at the heart of it is the inescapable American issue of race, and what role it plays in who comes first and how they are judged.
Her appointment came as the country debated how to balance racial diversity and academic achievement, articulate history lessons about slavery and racism, and meet the needs of Black and poor students.
Just when Dr. Gay took over at Harvard in July, the Supreme Court banned the admission of race-conscious students to colleges and universities, a decision that stemmed from a lawsuit against Harvard.
State lawmakers have passed laws that limit what can be learned about American racial history. Conservative politicians and activists have targeted university programs that seek to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, and about 30 states are considering legislation to curb such efforts.
With his A $50 billion endowment, it might seem as if Harvard could transcend such battles. But the school’s elite status and the symbolism it carries have dragged Harvard and its leadership straight into the fray.
“I am saddened by the inability of a major university to defend itself against an alarmingly effective campaign of misinformation and intimidation,” Randall Kennedy, a prominent Harvard law scholar, wrote in a text message.
When Dr. Gay was installed as president of Harvard, she was hailed by supporters as the fresh, bold face of change. The school would now be led by the black daughter of Haitian immigrants, a radical departure for a university with a past marred by racism and racism. a line of presidents which were exclusively white and all but one were male.
Dr. Gay “epitomizes the path Harvard is taking,” said Natalie Sadlak, a medical student who spoke at the inauguration in September. The new president, Ms. Sadlak said, represented a blending of the university’s “future and past, a blend of the university’s legacy and the promise of new perspectives.”
But from her earliest days in her new role, Dr. Gay under heightened scrutiny, with critics eager to question her qualifications and embrace diversity and equality programs.
Opponents of efforts to diversify America’s campuses responded to her promotion with disdain. Yes, since 2015 she has been a powerful administrator at the school, most recently dean of the sprawling Faculty of Arts and Sciences. But critics argued that her scholarship was relatively meager compared to past Harvard presidents.
Adding to an already toxic brew: the clash over campus culture and politics. And dr. Gay quickly made enemies.
In 2019, as dean, she issued a two-year unpaid suspension to Roland Fryer, a Black economist and MacArthur “genius grant” recipient who was accused of sexual harassment and creating an undesirable environment in his education research lab.
Although he has returned to university, his research laboratory has been disbanded. Critics say that Dr. Gay focuses on Dr. Fryer founded because he published work that contradicted liberal orthodoxy.
She also met with Ronald Sullivan, a law professor at Black Harvard and a criminal defense attorney. Students had protested his decision to represent film producer Harvey Weinstein against rape and related charges. This role, they claimed, disqualified him from serving as dean of Winthrop House, a student residence hall.
Harvard decided on his appointment and Dr. Gay not to renew criticized him, sparking outrage from the law school and leading conservatives who said the university had succumbed to overly sensitive students.
Dr. Gay might still be president, however, if not for her clumsy handling of the campus conflict over the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel and the war in Gaza. When asked at a congressional committee hearing in December whether calling for the genocide of Jews would constitute harassment under Harvard’s code of conduct, Dr. Gay ambiguous and lapsed into legalese.
“That may be true,” she said, “depending on the context.”
Her missteps galvanized her opponents.
Bill Ackman, Harvard graduate and financier, claimed on social media that the Harvard board members in their search for president only selected candidates such as Dr. Gay, which fit perfectly with the university’s goals to become more diverse.
He claimed that this filtering was likely common at elite universities. Such a practice, he said, was “not good for those who are given the office of president and find themselves in a role that they probably would not have been given if there had not been a big finger in the scales.”
A few days after the congressional hearing, allegations that Dr. Gay had plagiarized words and phrases in her scholarship to give her opponents even more ammunition.
‘She’s Barely One’scholar of a scholar“as the university magazine tried to portray her,” wrote Christopher Rufo, the conservative activist who helped turn critical race theory into a conservative rallying cry. He then attacked her as a “dutiful racist, adept at manipulating guilt, shame and obligation in the service of institutional power.”
Dr. Gay attempted to refute the accusations of plagiarism. But what started as a drumbeat became a chorus of screaming doubt that was impossible to ignore, especially as more errors appeared in her work.
“I see Gay getting her post at Harvard because she was a candidate for diversity, equity and inclusion, and not on the basis of strong academic credentials,” said a Dec. 21 statement by Vernon Smith, a Harvard graduate and Nobel Prize winner of 2002. Price in economics. “There are plenty of talented blacks who don’t need such ‘help’.”
“She’s an embarrassment to Harvard,” he said added.
What now becomes of Dr. Gay? She says she plans to return to her role as a professor at Harvard.
Even then, she may carry a burden familiar to many African Americans. She is now a symbol – scorned by some, praised by others, caught in a whiplashing debate over merit, rights and race that seems never-ending.
Sara Mervosh And Dana Goldstein reporting contributed.