Harvard President Warns Of ‘Warfare’ On ‘Pillars’ Of Society

Claudine Homosexual ― the Harvard College president who introduced her resignation this week amid a right-wing marketing campaign accusing her of antisemitism and plagiarism ― stated Thursday that her ouster is a part of a “broader conflict” to undermine public religion within the “pillars of American society” like academia.

Homosexual, who was Harvard’s first Black president and in addition serves as a professor of presidency and African American research, penned an op-ed in The New York Occasions two days after she despatched a letter to the Harvard neighborhood asserting she would step down as president and stay a part of the college.

“For weeks, each I and the establishment to which I’ve devoted my skilled life have been beneath assault,” she wrote within the Occasions. “My character and intelligence have been impugned. My dedication to preventing antisemitism has been questioned. My inbox has been flooded with invective, together with demise threats. I’ve been referred to as the N-word extra instances than I care to rely.”

“My hope is that by stepping down I’ll deny demagogues the chance to additional weaponize my presidency of their marketing campaign to undermine the beliefs animating Harvard since its founding: excellence, openness, independence, reality,” she continued.

Homosexual’s resignation got here after weeks of strain on the college to punish the president for indirectly answering a question from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) about whether or not calls on campus for the genocide of Jewish college students ― and even the usage of controversial pro-Palestinian expressions like “From the river to the ocean, Palestine might be free” ― would violate Harvard’s guidelines.

Homosexual, together with two different college presidents, stated in a congressional listening to that the acceptability of any on-campus speech relating to the violence in Gaza would rely on the context. The remarks by the assorted presidents drew a direct firestorm of criticism.

In her op-ed, Homosexual acknowledged that she has “made errors,” citing her preliminary response to the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas militants in opposition to Israel. She wrote that in the course of the congressional listening to, she ought to have condemned antisemitic conduct extra forcefully. The Harvard Company, the varsity’s governing board, supported Homosexual in the course of the controversy by saying she was defending the college’s tutorial freedom.

Extra not too long ago, Homosexual ― who was president for lower than a yr ― got here beneath fireplace after right-wing voices accused her of plagiarizing different students in her personal peer-reviewed tutorial writings on the importance of individuals from marginalized communities holding workplace in American politics.

In accordance with Homosexual, her analysis discovered that “when traditionally marginalized communities achieve a significant voice within the halls of energy, it alerts an open door the place earlier than many noticed solely obstacles,” leading to a strengthened democracy.

Harvard acknowledged some situations of insufficient quotation in Homosexual’s work, however stated that she shortly corrected them. Homosexual stated the method of correcting duplications was “in step with how I’ve seen related school instances dealt with at Harvard.”

“I’ve by no means misrepresented my analysis findings, nor have I ever claimed credit score for the analysis of others,” she wrote on Thursday. “Furthermore, the quotation errors mustn’t obscure a elementary reality: I proudly stand by my work and its influence on the sphere.”

The resignation makes Homosexual’s tenure the shortest of any Harvard president, and comes at a time when tutorial establishments more and more face threats of censorship from principally right-wing figures who search to stifle speech from individuals who come from marginalized backgrounds.

“It’s not misplaced on me that I make an excellent canvas for projecting each nervousness concerning the generational and demographic adjustments unfolding on American campuses: a Black girl chosen to guide a storied establishment,” Homosexual wrote. She urged the general public to be “extra skeptical than ever of the loudest and most excessive voices in our tradition.”

The outgoing president additionally stated that the marketing campaign to push her out of her function was “merely a single skirmish in a broader conflict to unravel public religion in pillars of American society.”

“Campaigns of this sort usually begin with assaults on training and experience, as a result of these are the instruments that finest equip communities to see via propaganda,” she wrote. “However such campaigns don’t finish there. Trusted establishments of all sorts ― from public well being companies to information organizations ― will proceed to fall sufferer to coordinated makes an attempt to undermine their legitimacy and damage their leaders’ credibility.”

You may learn Homosexual’s full op-ed right here.