6 things to know about Harvard president Claudine Gay’s resignation, weeks after Penn’s Liz Magill stepped down

Along with backlash surrounding how she addressed antisemitism on campus, Gay is resigning amid a growing wave of plagiarism allegations.

Harvard University president Claudine Gay and Penn president Liz Magill testify at a House Education and Workforce Committee Hearing last month.Read moreJabin Botsford / The Washington Post

by Emily Bloch

Updated Jan. 2, 2024, 2:59 p.m. ET

Published Jan. 2, 2024, 1:46 p.m. ET

Harvard president Claudine Gay has resigned, just weeks after University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill also left her position following the university leaders’ congressional testimonies on antisemitism last month.

Along with backlash surrounding how she addressed antisemitism on campus, Gay is resigning amid a growing wave of plagiarism allegations.

“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,” Gay wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to the Harvard community.

Gay’s resignation marks the shortest presidency in the school’s history — just six months and two days — according to the school’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson.

Here’s what you need to know.

Who is Claudine Gay?

Claudine Gay, 53, was Harvard’s 30th president and took office on July 1. She was the first Black person and the second woman to lead the university.

Previously, she had been a dean for the university’s arts and sciences college. She has been with Harvard since 2006, beginning as a government professor, according to her school bio. She earned her doctoral degree in government from Harvard in 1998.

Her career has been rooted in academia and racial equity. She previously worked as a professor at Stanford University from 2000 to 2005.

What happened at the congressional hearing?

Gay, along with then-Penn president Liz Magill and the MIT president Sally Kornbluth, were asked to testify during a congressional committee hearing surrounding antisemitism on college campuses.

The Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce asked the three women to speak to claims that universities were failing to protect Jewish students amid rising fears of antisemitism worldwide and fallout from Israel’s intensifying war in Gaza, which faces heightened criticism for the mounting Palestinian death toll.

The presidents spoke in what has been described as “lawyerly” prose, unable to directly decry antisemitism, according to critics.

When asked by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R, N.Y.) whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate the colleges’ code of conduct, Gay said the response would depend on the context, adding that when “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”

How did things unfold after the hearing?

The presidents’ responses faced swift backlash from Republican and some Democratic lawmakers as well as the White House. Gay and Magill later apologized, but critics — including some students and faculty — said the damage was already done.

The hearing was also parodied in the cold open on Saturday Night Live.

Magill resigned from Penn, where she remains a tenured faculty member, shortly after the congressional testimony.

MIT’s Kornbluth, who became the second woman to lead the school last January and who is Jewish, has not drawn as much backlash as her counterparts and remains the school’s president.

What about the plagiarism allegations against Gay?

Separately from her testimony, Gay is also the subject of allegations that some of her published works include more than two dozen cases of plagiarism.

Allegations and investigations from different publications into Gay’s portfolio began as early as October, according to Axios. Gay asked for an independent review of her work and later, a Harvard investigation concluded that Gay did not violate the university’s research standards.

The House committee expanded its probe into Harvard on Dec. 20, citing the plagiarism allegations, which they called “credible.”

On Monday, six new allegations were made public through an unsigned complaint published Monday in The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative online journal that has led a campaign against Gay.

What does Gay’s resignation letter say?

Here is Gay’s letter to the Harvard community in full, which was obtained by the New York Times:

Dear Members of the Harvard Community,

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. This is not a decision I came to easily. 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. But, after consultation with members of the 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.

It is a singular honor to be a member of this university, which has been my home and my inspiration for most of my professional career. My deep sense of connection to Harvard and its people has made it all the more painful to witness the tensions and divisions that have riven our community in recent months, weakening the bonds of trust and reciprocity that should be our sources of strength and support in times of crisis. Amidst all of this, 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.

I believe in the people of Harvard because I see in you the possibility and the promise of a better future. These last weeks have helped make clear the work we need to do to build that future — to combat bias and hate in all its forms, to create a learning environment in which we respect each other’s dignity and treat one another with compassion, and to affirm our enduring commitment to open inquiry and free expression in the pursuit of truth. 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.

When I became president, I considered myself particularly blessed by the opportunity to serve people from around the world who saw in my presidency a vision of Harvard that affirmed their sense of belonging — their sense that Harvard welcomes people of talent and promise, from every background imaginable, to learn from and grow with one another. To all of you, please know that those doors remain open, and Harvard will be stronger and better because they do.

As we welcome a new year and a new semester, I hope we can all look forward to brighter days. Sad as I am to be sending this message, my hopes for Harvard remain undimmed. When my brief presidency is remembered, I hope it will be seen as a moment of reawakening to the importance of striving to find our common humanity — and of not allowing rancor and vituperation to undermine the vital process of education. I trust we will all find ways, in this time of intense challenge and controversy, to recommit ourselves to the excellence, the openness, and the independence that are crucial to what our university stands for — and to our capacity to serve the world.

Sincerely,

Claudine Gay

Claudine Gay's resignation letter

What happens next?

Harvard’s provost and chief academic officer, Alan M. Garber, will take over as interim president until a full-time replacement is hired, the university said Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.