(Fox News) More than 500 Harvard faculty members supported University President Claudine Gay in a letter to the school’s board Sunday, following intense blowback from a congressional hearing about the rise in antisemitism on campus, where Gay failed to clearly state whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated the Ivy League school’s rules.
The Harvard Corporation and the Harvard Board of Overseers, the university’s second-highest governing body, met Sunday amid mounting pressure from donors and lawmakers to remove Gay from her post. The Harvard Corporation is also scheduled to meet again on Monday.
According to the Harvard Crimson, the Harvard Corporation is weighing whether to make a public statement in support of Gay.
University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, who testified alongside Gay at a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing last week, resigned on Saturday. By contrast, just two days after the fiery hearing, MIT’s executive committee had pledged “full and unreserved support” for MIT President Sally Kornbluth, issuing a statement that championed “her outstanding academic leadership, her judgment, her integrity, her moral compass, and her ability to unite our community around MIT’s core values.”
Harvard President Claudine Gay during a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. (Haiyun Jiang/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sunday’s letter, with 511 signatures, said those Harvard faculty members “urge you in the strongest possible terms to defend the independence of the university and to resist political pressures that are at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom, including calls for the removal of President Claudine Gay.”
“The critical work of defending a culture of free inquiry in our diverse community cannot proceed if we let its shape be dictated by outside forces,” the letter – organized in part by history professor Maya R. Jasanoff and sent to the Corporation Sunday evening – added, according to the Harvard Crimson.
Jasanoff told the student newspaper that “soundbites” from the hearing obscured Gay’s message.
“There is, as I’ve said, definitely room to explore the parameters and clarify the parameters of free speech, and free expression, and academic freedom, and so on on campuses,” Jasanoff said, placing blame instead on the House committee leadership. “I don’t think that the people who were taking the lead in the congressional inquiries were doing so with good faith intentions.”
In a standout moment, House GOP Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., demanded Gay, Magill and Kornbluth answer whether calls on campus for intifada or the genocide of Jewsviolated their universities’ codes of conduct or rules against bullying and harassment.
“At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment?” Stefanik asked.
A truck on Harvard’s campus demanding President Claudine Gay be fired for her handling of antisemitism on campus. (Fox News Digital )
“It can be, depending on the context,” Gay responded. However, Stefanik implored her for a yes or no answer.
“Antisemitic speech when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation — that is actionable conduct, and we do take action,” Gay said.
“So the answer is yes, that calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct, correct?” Stefanik asked.
“Again, it depends on the context,” Gay said.
“It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes, and this is why you should resign,” Stefanik responded. “These are unacceptable answers across the board.”
