Harvard president resigns amid controversy over anti-Semitisim hearing

Claudine Gay came under fire last month for her answers to a question on anti-Semitism on campus.

The president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay, has resigned amid plagiarism accusations and criticism over a congressional hearing during which she was unable to say whether calls for the genocide of Jews on campus would violate the school’s conduct policy.

In a statement announcing her departure on Tuesday, Gay wrote, “It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president.”

“It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor … and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus,” she added.

In July 2023, Gay became the first Black president of Harvard in 387 years.

But last month, Gay, along with the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania, came under fire for their lawyerly responses to a line of questioning from New York Republican representative Elise Stefanik, who asked whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate the college’s code of conduct.