What Will the Fall of Claudine Gay Cost Harvard?

President Claudine Gay is gone; the board that selected, vetted, and defended her remains.

Photo by Xiangkun ZHU on Unsplash.

“President Claudine Gay Falls at Harvard,” wrote the Wall Street Journal editorial board on January 2.

It was the resignation heard around the world this week. Media outlets left, right, and center have been publishing impassioned opinion pieces lauding and lampooning the now-former Harvard president ever since.

Gay is out amid a cloud of anti-Semitic scandal and plagiarism controversy but the fallout may have only begun. A cadre of media outlets, powerful Harvard alums, deep-pocketed donors, and politicos are lauding Gay’s departure as a good first step.

They are glad Gay is out as president at Harvard. Now, they want the committee responsible for Harvard’s missteps to be held responsible.

“Harvard Corporation under fire for keeping secrets to protect Claudine Gay: ‘Must not be published,’” reported Isabel Vincent for the New York Post.

“The resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay over allegations of plagiarism and her disastrous response to antisemitism turns the spotlight on the university’s governing body — the Harvard Corporation,” began Vincent.