Harvard President Claudine Gay resigns over plagiarism claims and disastrous antisemitism testimony in bitter letter where she says she's been victim of racism - but fails to apologize.

Harvard President Claudine Gay today resigned in a bitter letter to colleagues and students where she failed to apologize for or acknowledge the disasters that led to her departure. 
Gay, 53, lasted just six months in the role - the shortest tenure of any president in the school's history.
Her resignation comes 28 days after her shocking congressional testimony about campus antisemitism, where she refused to categorize calls for Jew genocide as harassment or concede that Jewish students had a right not to feel safe at Ivy League schools.
In her resignation, Gay wrote that she was standing down after 'consultation' with the school's board, which has been under pressure to replace her after defending her remarks.
She failed to acknowledge where she went wrong - making no mention of  December 5 testimony or the mounting claims of plagiarism against her - but said she had been the victim of racist threats. 
'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,' Gay wrote.
The Harvard Corporation, which serves as the school board, heaped praise on her 'devoted' service and said it had accepted her resignation 'with sorrow'.
She said it had been 'frightening' to find herself the target of threats, and 'distressing' to have her character questioned.
Gay will be replaced by Alan M. Garber, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, who sat behind her at the infamous December 5 hearing, nodding as she made her remarks.
Her six month tenure as president is the shortest in the school's history.

 

Gay was publicly scorned for her December 5 congressional testimony, where she repeatedly refused to condemn calls for Jew genocide, saying such threats did not count as harassment.
In her email today, Gay complained: 'It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor, two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am, and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.'
She said it was with a 'heavy heart' that she was standing down, but confirmed she would retain some kind of role at the school.
'I believe we have within us all that we need to heal from this period of tension and division and to emerge stronger.
'I had hoped with all my heart to lead us on that journey, in partnership with all of you.
'As I now return to the faculty, and to the scholarship and teaching that are the lifeblood of what we do, I pledge to continue working alongside you to build the community we all deserve,' she said.
The Harvard Corporation said “It is with that overarching consideration in mind that we have accepted her resignation. We do so with sorrow.
'While President Gay has acknowledged missteps and has taken responsibility for them, it is also true that she has shown remarkable resilience in the face of deeply personal and sustained attacks.”

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12919893/Harvard-President-Claudine-Gay-resign-plagiarism-claims-disastrous-antisemitism-testimony.html