Black Students at Harvard ‘Devastated’ by Claudine Gay’s Resignation, Solicitous of the Palestinians

Black students at Harvard appear to have convinced themselves that Gay was forced to resign not because of her serial plagiarism, but because of “racism.” More on their refusal to recognize her plagiarism as the reason for her resignation can be found here: “One Month Later, Black Harvard Affiliates Reflect on Gay’s Resignation,” by Summer Z. Sun and Samantha D. Wu, Harvard Crimson, February 1, 2024:

Clyve Lawrence ’25, a member of the African and African American Resistance Organization and a Crimson Editorial editor, called what he considered a lack of support for Palestinian students on Harvard’s campus a “failure of leadership” on Gay’s part.

Lawrence specifically pointed to a lack of support for students doxxed following the release of a controversial Harvard student group statement which held Israel “entirely responsible” for the attacks.

“I think her leadership was not incredibly strong when it came to the response to October 7 and the very strong doxxing that students faced, including myself,” he said….

Amazing how solicitous of the Palestinians some of these black students turn out to be. And when Clyve Lawrence suggests that Claudine Gay ought to have given more support to students who had engaged in pro-Palestinian protests and bullying, and then were exposed (“doxxed”), what exactly could Gay have done? She can’t prevent a potential employer from refusing to hire someone who took part in those protests.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton did not comment on criticisms of Harvard’s support for students, instead pointing to an article in the Harvard Gazette, a University-run publication, in which interim President Alan M. Garber ’76 affirmed a “commitment to inclusion and belonging.”

Well, then, those Jewish students who are suing Harvard for tolerating a climate of antisemitism should simply fire their lawyers and go home. After all, the interim president, Alan Garber, has affirmed “a commitment to inclusion and belonging.” What more can one ask for?

“Over the last several years, we have sought to embrace diversity in every dimension,” Garber [sic]. “As part of that effort, we have worked to create a welcoming environment, ensuring that every student, employee, faculty member, and visitor knows they belong here.”…

Apparently Jewish students do not agree with Garber’s rosy view. Six of them are suing Harvard Six students sued Harvard on Wednesday, claiming that the university had become a “bastion of rampant anti-Jewish hatred and harassment” that was exacerbated by the Hamas attack on Israel last October.

Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, noted the difficulty some Black students at Harvard have faced in the aftermath of Gay’s resignation.

“I can say that some of the Black community that I’m part of at Harvard, some of them are devastated by what’s happened to Claudine Gay,” he said. “I know that many of my students are frustrated, fearful, confused, in disbelief.”

For god’s sake, what’s all this worry about black students feeling “frustrated, fearful, confused, in disbelief”? What part of “plagiarism” don’t they understand? Do they not realize that. a white professor who plagiarized to the same extent as Gay would not merely be demoted, as she was from president back to professor, but would have been asked to leave the university?

Looking forward, Thompson said he hopes the next president will prioritize supporting students.

“I just feel like a lot more focus needs to be centered around students’ health rather than the reputation of Harvard,” he said.

Ah yes. Not education, but therapeutics, that’s what is most needed by the brain-addled students now studying, when they can tear themselves away from playing games on their computers, at the postmodern American university.

Once again: Claudine Gay was forced to resign because she was a serial plagiarist and not because she was black. She lacks the decency to state that forthrightly, and to apologize to the administration, faculty, and students at Harvard. Instead she continues to insist she was the victim of anti-black animus, and far too many of the black students at Harvard are prepared to believe that she was indeed the victim of “racism.” They do not want to hear about Professor Carol Swain, a black professor of political science whose work had been extensively plagiarized by Gay; Swain was the first to call for Claudine Gay’s resignation. They refuse, too, to consider the mediocre publishing record of Gay. She has written no book, and has published only 10 short papers, the most recent one was published six years ago. Her “research” has been on subjects both trivial and obvious, such as her conclusion to one such paper — that blacks resent Hispanics who are economically more successful, and she concluded another with the blindingly obvious conclusion that Democratic governors direct federal housing subsidies to supportive constituencies when they have the ability to do so. Claudine Gay owes her entire academic career, and especially her appointment as President of Harvard, to affirmative action run amok.