Harvard President's Ouster Leads to Concerns about Academic Freedom
2024-01-07
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1Harvard University's Claudine Gay recently became the second Ivy League president to step down under pressure from alumni, political activists and supporters of the University.
2Gay was the first Black president of Harvard and second woman to lead the university.
3She started the job only six months ago.
4Gay and two other presidents were widely criticized after making controversial comments to the U.S. Congress in December.
5Gay, along with Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, were called to Washington to discuss American lawmakers' concerns about antisemitism on college campuses.
6Antisemitism is the hatred of Jewish people.
7The U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education chose the presidents because their schools had "been at the center of the rise in antisemitic protests," a committee spokesperson said in a statement.
8The protests were related to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
9Harvard graduate Elise Stefanik of New York is part of the Republican-led committee.
10She asked each university leader about how their school would react to calls to kill large numbers of Jews, something described as genocide.
11Stefanik asked Magill: "Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's rules or code of conduct? Yes or no?" Penn is the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Ivy League.
12She asked the same question of Gay and Kornbluth.
13None of the school leaders were able to clearly say calling for the death of Jews violated school rules.
14The presidents were sharply criticized for their lack of clarity.
15Within a few days, influential members of the University of Pennsylvania community pushed Magill to resign.
16For a time, it looked as if Gay's job was safe.
17She received support from some notable professors at Harvard, including legal scholar Laurence Tribe.
18Tribe said "it is dangerous for universities to be ... bullied into micromanaging their policies."
19He was talking about the way some activists and politicians seemed to be pushing the universities toward their preferred result.
20One of those activists is Christopher Rufo.
21Rufo is a member of the leadership group that oversees New College of Florida.
22With the support of Governor Ron DeSantis, Rufo and others have been pushing the small college to change its curriculum.
23After Gay announced her resignation on January 2, Rufo wrote words of celebration on X, formerly known as Twitter.
24He and other conservatives believe American higher education has too many liberal people in leadership roles.
25Gay's position at Harvard looked safe in December. So what changed?
26In the weeks following the congressional hearing, some critics charged Gay with using "duplicative language" in academic writing.
27To duplicate means to make an exact copy of something.
28They also said Gay had plagiarized -- or claimed others' writing as her own.
29The charges, however, did not come from those working in higher education.
30They came from people like Rufo who are working to push out higher education leaders they do not agree with.
31At first, Harvard said it did not consider Gay's work to be "intentional or reckless."
32But pressure continued.
33Many observers believe the conservative activists felt Gay only received Harvard's presidency because she was a Black woman.
34On X, Rufo wrote that he was establishing a "plagiarism hunting fund" as a way to oust university leaders and bring attention to the "rot in the Ivy League."
35Gay wrote a letter to the Harvard community announcing she was leaving her position "with a heavy heart."
36She also said it was frightening to be attacked due to her race.
37Gay said she would remain at Harvard as a professor.
38Academic experts who have been following the pressure campaign on Gay say the plagiarism accusations only came after it looked like she would not lose her job.
39They worry that people who do not like the leaders of major American universities will now research their academic writing in search of duplications and poor citations.
40Davarian Baldwin is a historian at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
41He writes about race and higher education.
42Baldwin said Gay made mistakes in her writing and noted that anti-plagiarism software will make it easy for critics to find problematic writing by college leaders and professors.
43The tools are designed to help educators learn whether their students' writings are their own.
44But Baldwin said the tools can be dangerous if they fall into the hands of people who want to argue that academia is full of corrupt and incompetent people.
45Incompetent means someone lacks the ability to do something well.
46Irene Mulvey is president of the American Association of University Professors.
47She said plagiarism investigations could be "weaponized" to push out presidents.
48She said she is concerned that conservative activists will use the successful campaign against Gay as a method to push out other academic leaders.
49"For presidents to be taken down like this, it does not bode well for academic freedom," she said.
50I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Gena Bennett.
1Harvard University's Claudine Gay recently became the second Ivy League president to step down under pressure from alumni, political activists and supporters of the University. 2Gay was the first Black president of Harvard and second woman to lead the university. She started the job only six months ago. 3Gay and two other presidents were widely criticized after making controversial comments to the U.S. Congress in December. 4Gay, along with Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, were called to Washington to discuss American lawmakers' concerns about antisemitism on college campuses. Antisemitism is the hatred of Jewish people. 5The U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education chose the presidents because their schools had "been at the center of the rise in antisemitic protests," a committee spokesperson said in a statement. 6The protests were related to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. 7Harvard graduate Elise Stefanik of New York is part of the Republican-led committee. She asked each university leader about how their school would react to calls to kill large numbers of Jews, something described as genocide. 8Stefanik asked Magill: "Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn's rules or code of conduct? Yes or no?" Penn is the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Ivy League. 9She asked the same question of Gay and Kornbluth. 10None of the school leaders were able to clearly say calling for the death of Jews violated school rules. 11The presidents were sharply criticized for their lack of clarity. Within a few days, influential members of the University of Pennsylvania community pushed Magill to resign. 12For a time, it looked as if Gay's job was safe. She received support from some notable professors at Harvard, including legal scholar Laurence Tribe. 13Tribe said "it is dangerous for universities to be ... bullied into micromanaging their policies." He was talking about the way some activists and politicians seemed to be pushing the universities toward their preferred result. 14One of those activists is Christopher Rufo. Rufo is a member of the leadership group that oversees New College of Florida. With the support of Governor Ron DeSantis, Rufo and others have been pushing the small college to change its curriculum. 15After Gay announced her resignation on January 2, Rufo wrote words of celebration on X, formerly known as Twitter. He and other conservatives believe American higher education has too many liberal people in leadership roles. 16Gay's position at Harvard looked safe in December. So what changed? 17In the weeks following the congressional hearing, some critics charged Gay with using "duplicative language" in academic writing. To duplicate means to make an exact copy of something. 18They also said Gay had plagiarized -- or claimed others' writing as her own. 19The charges, however, did not come from those working in higher education. They came from people like Rufo who are working to push out higher education leaders they do not agree with. 20At first, Harvard said it did not consider Gay's work to be "intentional or reckless." But pressure continued. 21Many observers believe the conservative activists felt Gay only received Harvard's presidency because she was a Black woman. 22On X, Rufo wrote that he was establishing a "plagiarism hunting fund" as a way to oust university leaders and bring attention to the "rot in the Ivy League." 23Gay wrote a letter to the Harvard community announcing she was leaving her position "with a heavy heart." She also said it was frightening to be attacked due to her race. Gay said she would remain at Harvard as a professor. 24Plagiarism complaints as a tool 25Academic experts who have been following the pressure campaign on Gay say the plagiarism accusations only came after it looked like she would not lose her job. 26They worry that people who do not like the leaders of major American universities will now research their academic writing in search of duplications and poor citations. 27Davarian Baldwin is a historian at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He writes about race and higher education. Baldwin said Gay made mistakes in her writing and noted that anti-plagiarism software will make it easy for critics to find problematic writing by college leaders and professors. 28The tools are designed to help educators learn whether their students' writings are their own. But Baldwin said the tools can be dangerous if they fall into the hands of people who want to argue that academia is full of corrupt and incompetent people. Incompetent means someone lacks the ability to do something well. 29Irene Mulvey is president of the American Association of University Professors. She said plagiarism investigations could be "weaponized" to push out presidents. 30She said she is concerned that conservative activists will use the successful campaign against Gay as a method to push out other academic leaders. 31"For presidents to be taken down like this, it does not bode well for academic freedom," she said. 32I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Gena Bennett. 33Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 34______________________________________________ 35Words in This Story 36alumni -n. the people who graduated from a school or university 37campus -n. the physical location of a college or university's buildings 38code of conduct -n. rules on how to participate in a group, such as how to be a student at a university 39bully -v. to frighten, hurt, or threaten (a smaller or weaker person) : to act like a bully toward (someone) 40micromanage -v. to try to control all parts of something usually in a way that is not wanted 41preferred -adj. the better choice among multiple things 42curriculum -n. a study plan set up for students by a professor or school 43preferred -adj. the better choice among multiple things 44rot -n. decay or lack of health 45bode well -v. to feel positive about the future of something 46We want to hear from you. Do you think university presidents should be worried about their jobs?