What Harvard students have to say about the bombshell resignation of embattled president Claudine Gay
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- Harvard students had mixed reactions to the resignation of the school's president Claudine Gay.
- Gay resigned following plagiarism accusations and her controversial congressional testimony.
- Some students hailed Gay's resignation, while others viewed it as a submission to powerful donors.
From excitement to frustration, Harvard University students had mixed reactions to the bombshell Tuesday resignation of the Ivy League school's embattled president, Claudine Gay.
Gay, the first Black president at Harvard, announced in a letter to the Harvard community that she was stepping down from her post amid plagiarism accusations and fallout from her controversial testimony at a recent congressional hearing on college campus antisemitism.
"This is not a decision I came to easily," Gay wrote in her letter. "Indeed, it has been difficult beyond words because I have looked forward to working with so many of you to advance the commitment to academic excellence that has propelled this great university across centuries."
Gay wrote that after consultation with members of Harvard's governing board called 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."
Some Harvard students hailed Gay's resignation, while others viewed it as a submission to powerful donors and political figures.
"I think it is, if anything, too late," said Alex Bernat, a junior at the elite Massachusetts university, told The New York Times. "I'm glad she finally came to terms with the need for Harvard to have new leadership."
Bernat told the school's student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, that he was "very excited" by the news.
"I think — as a Jewish student on campus, as someone who cares about academic integrity — this kind of went on for too long," Bernat told the Crimson.
Harvard student Joshua Kaplan echoed Bernat's remarks, calling Gay's resignation a "right step forward" in an email to the Crimson.
"I, along with many other Harvard students, look forward to the next president working to repair the university's image and combat the hateful antisemitism and bigotry we have seen on our campus," Kaplan said. "There is a long road forward, and this is a good beginning."
Harvard junior Sanaa Kahloon had a different perspective, deeming Gay's resignation "a symptom of Harvard being almost entirely beholden to external pressure" in an interview with the Times.
"These allegations of plagiarism have been weaponized by right-wing actors to suppress free speech in higher education, and to continue to suppress free speech with respect to Palestine," Kahloon, a pro-Palestinian activist, told the news outlet.
Harvard student Jeremy O.S. Ornstein told the Crimson that it was "frustrating and disquieting and unfortunate that vindictive billionaires and spiteful politicians" managed to "influence" the university.
Ornstein specifically called out billionaire investor Bill Ackman and GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who vehemently demanded Gay's resignation.
The student told the Crimson that he hoped Harvard's next president would be "inspired by Gay's aspirations" to "have a vigorous public debate" over matters like the Israel-Hamas war.
"We need bold and imaginative solutions, but we can't have those conversations on a college campus if we're catering to the whims of people who have very clear ideological agendas," Orenstein told the Crimson. "They're trying to go viral, and they're trying to take over Harvard from outside Harvard."
Another Harvard student, Ru'Quan Brown, told the Crimson that Gay's resignation "sets a bad precedent for future presidents."
"I respect the fact that she was willing to admit that she made mistakes, but it's a shame how people can be pretty unforgiving, even when you're trying to make things right," said Brown.
Student Chukwudi Ilozue told the Crimson, "Setting the precedent that rich and powerful people can throw their money around and bully America's institutions into doing whatever they want is something that will lead to terrible consequences in the future."
Meanwhile, Harvard government professor Ryan Enos told WBZ-TV that Gay was "brought down by a mob."
"A lot of us were concerned about these accusations of plagiarism, as we should be, but we didn't even get a chance to deliberate that," Enos said.
The professor added that he was "saddened for Harvard and higher education" with the news of Gay's resignation.
"This is Harvard being attacked by mob rule and something we should be wary of," Enos told the news outlet.
Calls for Gay's resignation came just months into her presidency after her response to a line of questioning by Stefanik during a December 5 congressional hearing amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Gay, along with the presidents of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, were asked whether calling for the genocide of Jewish people would violate each school's code of conduct.
"It can be, depending on the context," Gay said.
The answers from Gay and the other school presidents triggered a flurry of outrage among some major figures and ultimately led to the resignation of the University of Pennsylvania's president, Liz Magill.
In the aftermath of Gay's resignation, Stefanik, in a post on X, said: "This is just the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history."
"Claudine Gay's morally bankrupt answers to my questions made history as the most viewed Congressional testimony in the history of the U.S. Congress," Stefanik said. "Her answers were absolutely pathetic and devoid of the moral leadership and academic integrity required of the President of Harvard."