Harvard University’s president, Claudine Gay has resigned after facing allegations of plagiarism and criticism over her comments about antisemitism on campus.
Her time was the shortest presidency in the University’s history.
The most recent accusations came yesterday, published anonymously in a conservative online outlet.
In a letter announcing her resignation, she said it was in the “best interests” of the university for her to step down.
“It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigour,” she said.
Gay added that her resignation would allow Harvard to “focus on the institution rather than any individual. This is not a decision I came to easily. Indeed, it has been difficult beyond words,”
She said she had been subjected to personal threats and “racial animus”.
Gay was also engulfed by scandal after she declined to say unequivocally whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s code of conduct, during testimony to Congress alongside the heads of MIT and the University of Pennsylvania last month.
The university’s governing Harvard Corporation backed her after her appearance before Congress but did criticize her response to the October 7 attack in Israel as the campus community reacted to the war in Gaza.
More than 70 lawmakers including two Democrats called for her resignation, while several high-profile Harvard alumni and donors had called for her departure.
Still, more than 700 Harvard faculty members had signed a letter supporting Gay.
The 53-year-old served as president for six months and was the first black person, and only the second woman, to be appointed to lead the Ivy League university.
Read Also: Osun APC blasts Aregbesola, says ex-gov dishonoured agreement by Tinubu, Akande
Born in New York to Haitian immigrants and is a professor of political science who in July became the first Black president of 368-year-old Harvard University, in Cambridge, outside Boston.
The university’s governing Harvard Corporation said in a statement that Gay would resume her faculty position after resigning.
“We thank President Gay for her deep and unwavering commitment to Harvard and the pursuit of academic excellence,” it said.
“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,” the statement added.
The corporation also said the search for a new president of the university will begin in due course.
“While some of this has played out in the public domain, much of it has taken the form of repugnant and in some cases racist vitriol directed at her through disgraceful emails and phone calls. We condemn such attacks in the strongest possible terms. The search for a new president of the university will begin in due course.”