(Newsmax) Much attention has been thrust upon Harvard’s governing body amid the controversy involving university President Claudine Gay.
Lawmakers and Harvard graduates have been among those calling for Gay to be fired after she refused, during Dec. 6 testimony before Congress, to say whether on-campus calls for the genocide of Jews was against the school’s policy. She also has been accused of plagiarism.
Members of the normally reclusive Harvard Corporation, the university’s board, have been forced to explain what they plan to do regarding Gay and the school’s reputation.
The corporation on Dec. 12 announced it would stand by Gay, who’s also a board member. The New York Times reported Sunday that the president participated in pre-release discussions and had the opportunity to review the corporation’s statement in her defense before it went public.
Since then, however, there have been rising demands, by powerful donors, alumni, and media figures, for Gay’s removal.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that Gay being Harvard’s first Black president complicates the board’s actions because there are concerns about the optics of a removal.
Two board members, the nonprofit founder Tracy Palandjian and the private-equity executive Paul Finnegan, last week were grilled by a small group of prominent academics at a Cambridge, Massachusetts, restaurant.
The professors didn’t demand Gay’s resignation but wanted an explanation of the board’s plan to stabilize the school, according to Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, the Times reported.
“You need to be more out front of this,” Jeff Flier, the former dean of Harvard Medical School, told the two board members, the Times reported.
“If people are saying the university is making mistakes — they are talking about you!”
