She mounted a president Harvard university Resigned American Claudine Gay launched a scathing attack on those who were behind forcing her to step down from her position, describing them as demagogues and opportunists.
In an article published by the New York Times, she said that last Tuesday she made the “painful but necessary” decision to resign from her position as president of Harvard University, after she and the institution were attacked.
She continued: “My character and intelligence were challenged, and doubts arose about my commitment to fighting anti-Semitism,” noting that her inbox was filled with insults and slander, and death threats against her.
Gay stepped down from her position after being subjected to pressure and criticism because she considered the demonstrations against Israel on campus to be within the scope of “freedom of expression.”
Last week, American media reported allegations that “some of her previous academic works were stolen.”
noises
Gay – who also works as a professor of government and African-American studies at Harvard University – expressed her hope that her resignation would deprive the “demagogues” of the opportunity to use her presidency as a weapon in their campaign to undermine the ideals that have animated the spirit of Harvard University since its founding, which are excellence, openness, and independence. And the truth.
She warned that the campaign against her was not targeting her alone, but rather more than one university and one president, and was nothing more than “just a skirmish” in a broader war to undermine public confidence in the pillars of American society.
She said that campaigns of this kind often begin with an attack on education and those with expertise, because these are the tools that best prepare societies to realize the intentions of propaganda against them.
She stressed that such campaigns will not stop there, adding that “trusted” institutions of all kinds – from public health organizations to the media – will constantly fall victim to coordinated attempts to undermine their legitimacy and destroy the credibility of their leaders.
No victory or ousted head of an institution can exhaust the energy of these opportunists – as the university professor calls them – who “mockery” American institutions.
Attempted moral “murder”.
However, Gay admits that she made mistakes, as she said that her initial reaction to the attack on Israel on October 7 should have been “more forceful,” and that she should have described the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) as “a terrorist organization seeking to eradicate the Jewish state.”
Regarding her accusation of plagiarism, she said that her critics found that in some of her academic writings, texts by other scholars were repeatedly used, without attribution to their authors. She added that as soon as she realized that she had made these mistakes, she asked the periodicals and magazines in which articles were published in which it was reported that there were quotations without evidence.
She denied that she had distorted the results of her research, and that she had never claimed credit for the research of others.
She once again opened her fire on those who launched a “relentless” campaign to oust her, accusing them of trading in lies and often personal insults, and not logical arguments, as she put it.
She concluded her article by emphasizing the need for universities to remain independent platforms in which courage and reason combine to support the truth, regardless of the forces that oppose them.
