U.S. News
Stefanik Slams Harvard’s ‘Total Moral Collapse’ as Claudine Gay Stays President
Clear Facts
- Rep. Elise Stefanik criticized Harvard’s decision to support President Claudine Gay despite her controversial testimony at a congressional hearing.
- Stefanik called the situation a “complete moral failure” and criticized Harvard’s leadership for not condemning calls for genocide of Jewish people.
- Harvard’s board reaffirmed their support for Gay, stating she is the “right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.”
House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N. Y., slammed Harvard’s decision Tuesday to stand behind Harvard President Claudine Gay despite her testifying last week at a congressional hearing that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews require “context” before they would violate the school’s code of conduct.
Taking a point of personal privilege at the top of the House Republican Conference press conference, Stefanik ripped the “complete moral failure” of Harvard’s leadership, saying that in allowing Gay to remain as president, the “only update to the code of conduct” that the Ivy League school has made after the hearing, “is to allow a plagiarist as the president of Harvard.”
“There is a reason why the testimony at the Education Workforce Committee garnered 1 billion views worldwide, and it’s because those university presidents made history by putting the most morally bankrupt testimony into the Congressional Record, and the world saw it,” Stefanik said Tuesday.
“As a Harvard graduate, I’m reminded of Harvard’s motto, Veritas, which goes back – and it’s older than the founding of our country, it goes back to the 1640s. In addition, the motto was Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae – Truth for Christ and the Church.”
“Larry Summers, who was president of Harvard when I was an undergrad, talked about the meaning of Veritas is divine truth, moral truth. Let me be clear. Veritas does not depend on the context,” Stefanik said.
“This is a moral failure of Harvard’s leadership and higher education leadership at the highest levels, and the only change they have made to their code of conduct, where they failed to condemn calls for genocide of the Jewish people, the only update to the code of conduct is to allow a plagiarist as the president of Harvard.”
Harvard’s board went through extensive deliberations over the weekend and into Monday regarding calls from 74 House members from both sides of the aisle demanding Gay, as well as the presidents of MIT and UPenn, be removed. More than 500 Harvard faculty members, however, had written the board demanding the university support Gay and “defend the independence of the university and to resist political pressures that are at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom.”
Billionaire Harvard alum Bill Ackman also sent a letter demanding Gay’s ouster, claiming her “failure to condemn the most vile and barbaric terrorism the world has ever seen” following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the university losing billions in donations.
Ackman, a hedge fund manager, later said Harvard resisted removing Gay to avoid the perception they were “kowtowing” to him.
Earlier Tuesday, the Harvard Corporation reaffirmed their support Gay as the “right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.”
“In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay,” the Fellows of Harvard Corporation wrote.
“At Harvard, we champion open discourse and academic freedom, and we are united in our strong belief that calls for violence against our students and disruptions of the classroom experience will not be tolerated. Harvard’s mission is advancing knowledge, research, and discovery that will help address deep societal issues and promote constructive discourse, and we are confident that President Gay will lead Harvard forward toward accomplishing this vital work.”
The Corporation also addressed Gay’s academic writings, saying the university “became aware in late October of allegations regarding three articles.”
“At President Gay’s request, the Fellows promptly initiated an independent review by distinguished political scientists and conducted a review of her published work,” the Harvard Corporation said.
“On December 9, the Fellows reviewed the results, which revealed a few instances of inadequate citation. While the analysis found no violation of Harvard’s standards for research misconduct, President Gay is proactively requesting four corrections in two articles to insert citations and quotation marks that were omitted from the original publications.”
By contrast, just two days after the fiery hearing, MIT’s executive committee had pledged “full and unreserved support” for MIT President Sally Kornbluth, issuing a statement that championed “her outstanding academic leadership, her judgment, her integrity, her moral compass, and her ability to unite our community around MIT’s core values.”
Clear Thoughts (op-ed)
Harvard’s decision to support President Claudine Gay is a disgraceful reflection of the moral bankruptcy plaguing our higher education institutions.
Rep. Elise Stefanik rightfully called out this “complete moral failure” as Harvard chose to stand behind a leader who failed to condemn calls for genocide of Jewish people.
The board’s decision to reaffirm their support for Gay demonstrates a blatant disregard for the values that Harvard supposedly upholds.
Harvard’s motto, Veritas, represents truth – but where is the truth in allowing a plagiarist to remain as the president of such a prestigious institution?
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to address the decline in moral standards and intellectual integrity within our educational system.
Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.
John
December 13, 2023 at 6:43 pm
Hitler called for the genocide of the Jewish people also and murdered all who opposed him.
Laura R Wagner
December 13, 2023 at 7:32 pm
Oh, but according to the “progressives,” it is the right (conservatives) that are the Nazis. This is the BS history being taught at these so-called prestigious universities. They aren’t taught that the fascist Nazi party were socialists and therefore, leftists.
John Segal
December 13, 2023 at 7:27 pm
Harvrd, Penn , and MIT should all be sanctioned for not taking action after a call from their students for genocide
LMB
December 13, 2023 at 7:36 pm
All of these Leftist, Islamic-paid Institutions need to be PURGED!!! First cut them off of all financial funds, foreign and domestic!! Then Fire everyone of the Perfessors and supporting staff!!! Make everyone of them re-apply for their positions!!! Screen them thoroughly for their past teachings and moral standings!! This reapplication must be done by an appointed congressional judiciary committee!!!
Ann Froman
December 13, 2023 at 7:44 pm
It is horrible & unethical that the president of a top American University Harvard , still continues to employ a woman whose anti Semetic views will destroy the education of our future generations. Learning to Love & Respect all people should be part of the curriculum at every school.
My Sculpture entitled “Survival”, was donated to Harvard by Steve Ross Time Warns CEO. I interviewed many survivors of the Holocaust to create this Bronze Masterpiece, that also stands at Brooklyn COLLEGE.
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, was fantastic !
Chris Willis
December 13, 2023 at 8:06 pm
Wokeness trumps everything! And it will destroy the reputation of Harevard.
Born Again
December 13, 2023 at 8:37 pm
We call for the genocide of those who call for the genocide of Jews!!
Logical53
December 13, 2023 at 8:43 pm
How sad that many still support President Gay. It implies that they share her beliefs. That is not appropriate. Higher learning institutions are failing us. They have developed into a safe harbor for moral decline, hatred, divisiveness, even socialism and fascism. Professors are indoctrinating children into a new world order rather than imparting knowledge. We need to stop supporting these institutions.
G.R. Egoville
December 13, 2023 at 9:11 pm
President Gay very clearly answered the questions regarding the war. She followed the script given to her and her two crony’s. Then her fellow faculty members marched in full regalia to announce to the world ( or at least America) that they support this arrogant racist. She will never resign because to do so would weaken her position as a role model. She will be empowered to support every leftist, anti semitic activity at Harvard. For her, the fun has just begun.
If Jewish money doesn’t withdraw their support to drive home their motto…” this must never happen again”… it WILL happen again. Less money won’t change her and her supporters opinions but it might make a dent in the future of Harvard.
RICHARD
December 14, 2023 at 4:27 pm
AFTER ALL WE HEAR ABOUT PRESIDENT ”’GAY”’. WE ARE NOT SURPRISED AT ALL THAT THE PEOPLE FROM HARVARD ARE ALL FROM THE SAME CLOTH. WE WATCHED FOR 50 YEARS, HOW COLLEGES ARE GOING DOWN HILL. WHY WOULD ANYONE EXPOSE THEIR CHILDREN TO SUCH SICK PEOPLE????? FIRST OF ALL THEY DO NOT LEARN ANYTHING TO HELP THEM IN THEIR FUTURE LIFE. NOTHING BUT KARL MARX AND COMMUNISM AND SOCIALISM.KIDS LEARN MORE IN A 4 YEAR TRADE SCHOOL THEN IN YEARS AND YEARS OF BRAIN WASHING. TIME TO GO TO COLLEGE BECAUSE OF ”PRESTIGE”’ IS A THING OF THE PASSED. LEARNING IS IMPORTANT . GETTING THE BEST EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT. NOT THE NAME OF A COLLEGE, ALL COLLEGES NEED TO BE TAXED. PLEASE REMOVE ALL THESE PRESIDENTS WHO ARE HIRED BY GENDER OR COLOR BUT NOT BY MERIT…………SOME KIDS WOULD LEARN MORE JOINING THE MILITARY AND LEARN RESPECT FOR OUR COUNTRY.
Jeremy
December 17, 2023 at 11:12 am
Of course the faculty and board at Harvard chose to support Gay. The Democrat controlled education system, at all levels, has been working for decades to silence or remove anyone who does not believe in and promote their twisted agenda.
LMB
January 27, 2024 at 7:58 pm
TIME TO RESEND THE HARVARD LICENSE TO TEACH!!! PUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS AND MAKE IT A WARNING TO THE REST OF THE BS INSTITUTIONS!!!
Steph
February 15, 2024 at 6:47 am
Just proves that Harvard is a failure of a university with absolutely no morals or ethics. I’m so proud that school is not my Alma mater. I would be ashamed and would never reveal I was indoctrinated there.
JR
February 15, 2024 at 10:45 am
Harvard serves as the far left ambassador of the democrat party. Totally wacked out! Harvard has lost its way! Harvard has replaced merit, hard work and achievement with DEI. Scholarship has no place Harvard.