Harvard President Claudine Gay remains under fire after being exposed as a prolific plagiarizer. The leader of one of America’s foremost universities, lauded for her diversity, has offered several corrections in the aftermath but has steadfastly refused to step down.
She first sparked controversy recently by refusing to answer whether proclaiming calls for genocide against Jews violated Harvard’s code of conduct. After refusing to resign, it was then revealed that Gay had committed dozens of acts of plagiarism throughout her college and professional career.
(See: Scholars Find Dozens More Examples of Plagiarism by Claudine Gay)
Still, the pressure has built, with even mainstream press outlets pushing for a better response from Harvard than simply giving her a vote of confidence and largely ignoring the scandal. How can you have the president of an Ivy League university be a prolific plagiarizer? Academic integrity is at the very core of the job. It’d be like making a mob boss the chief of police.
Gay has gained one big defender, though. According to a new report, none other than former President Barack Obama has stepped in to ensure she doesn’t face any consequences.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Obama, a Harvard graduate, had privately lobbied on Gay’s behalf as she faced pressure to resign in the wake of her disastrous appearance before the congressional hearing on antisemitism. “It sounded like people were being asked to close ranks to keep the broader administration stable — including its composition,” the source, who was informed of Obama’s outreach and asked to speak anonymously to discuss a confidential matter, told JI on Tuesday.
Obama went to Harvard and no doubt has considerable sway over the university’s board and administrators. When a former president who is like-minded in every way (everyone involved here is a far-left Democrat) says to do something, the response is typically going to be, “Yes, sir.”
What does this say about Obama, that he’d swoop in behind the scenes to save someone guilty of what they are accused of and who has expressed nakedly antisemitic sentiments? It says the former president is everything conservatives said he was. Far from the guy the press drooled over, Obama is a ruthless radical who would rather see Harvard led by an allegedly bigoted plagiarizer than dare allow the DEI racket to take a hit.
In the end, Gay will survive these multiple scandals not because her race welcomes oppression, but because her race offers protection in the modern political environment. Democrats value intersectionality above all else. Gay checks their most prized boxes, and thus, she gets to retain her job despite clearly violating the ethics standards required to hold it.
