Concerned about President Claudine Gay’s strategy for combating antisemitism on campus, millionaire Len Blavatnik declared on Thursday, December 21st, that he would be suspending all financial contributions to Harvard University. With a net worth of more than $30 billion, Blavatnik has used his family foundation to give more than $250 million to Harvard.
Speech given by President Gay at a congressional hearing earlier this month drew criticism. Gay said that it depends on the context when asked by Representative Elise Stefanik whether it would be a violation of the university’s code of conduct to advocate for the genocide of Jews.
A second issue that Stefanik brought up was the use of the word “intifada” during student demonstrations. Gay emphasized the university’s strong commitment to free speech and ideological diversity by stating that, notwithstanding demands for violence, such actions do not violate the code of conduct.
The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Group attributed the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, resulting in over 1,200 Israeli civilian deaths, to the Israeli government in their statement. However, they failed to reference Hamas in the statement.
In the subsequent days, a truck with a billboard circulated around the campus, displaying the faces and names of individuals endorsing the label “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites.” More than ten student groups, initially supporting the document, later withdrew their support.
Christopher Brunet of Karlstack and Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute were among the researchers who reviewed Gay’s dissertation for her doctorate. Their investigation uncovered other cases of plagiarism, which has further tarnished the reputation of the troubled school administrator.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that Gay had plagiarized extensively throughout her academic career, with instances where she lifted entire paragraphs and passed them off as her own, after experts reviewed her work. Despite writing four papers between 1993 and 2017, the study found that she failed to properly cite the work of roughly twenty authors. The results are associated with Gay, who has written eleven publications overall.
Twelve academics worked with The Free Beacon to look into 29 potential cases of plagiarism, according to the study. Most people thought that Gay had broken Harvard’s anti-plagiarism policies and a basic concept of academic honesty by modifying a few words here and there.
