Harvard President Claudine Gay Receives Unanimous Support from University Board

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) – Embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay has gained the unanimous support of the university’s board, Harvard’s highest governing body said in a statement Tuesday, giving Gay significant cover to remain in her position after a tumultuous week in which many donors and politicians have called for her ouster.

Harvard Corporation Reaffirms Support for President Gay

“As members of the Harvard Corporation, we today reaffirm our support for President Gay’s continued leadership of Harvard University,” the statement from the Harvard Corporation said. “Our extensive deliberations affirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and to address the very serious societal issues we are facing.”

The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student newspaper, was first to report the news Tuesday morning.

The Harvard Corporation, which includes the school’s board of overseers, announced the decision Tuesday morning following the conclusion of the board’s meeting on Monday.

“In this tumultuous and difficult time, we unanimously stand in support of President Gay,” the Corporation added in its statement.

A Disastrous Hearing

At the consequential December 5 hearing before a House committee, Gay struggled to answer questions about whether calls for genocide against Jews would violate Harvard’s code of conduct. She and other university presidents failed to explicitly say calls for genocide of Jewish people constituted bullying and harassment on campus. The exchanges went viral and prompted a flurry of business leaders, donors, and politicians to demand Gay, Magill, and MIT President Sally Kornbluth step down.

The three presidents soon after attempted to clarify their testimony, publicly saying that they were giving academic answers to questions of safety, and they believe calls for genocide would violate school rules.

MIT’s board quickly said it supported Kornbluth. Gay apologized last week in an interview with the Crimson. Magill, who resigned along with Penn board chair Scott Bok, still has not apologized.

In its statement, the Corporation said Gay should have been more firm in her response to the House committee’s questioning.

“So many people have suffered tremendous damage and pain because of Hamas’s brutal terrorist attack, and the University’s initial statement should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation,” it said in a statement. “Calls for genocide are despicable and contrary to fundamental human values. President Gay has apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony and has committed to redoubling the University’s fight against antisemitism.”

Critics Seize on Gay’s Testimony

Still, Gay faces a number of critics calling for her ouster. The board’s support may not be the final word on the matter.

“One down. Two to go,” Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York wrote on X, after Magill stepped down Saturday, with “two” being a reference to Gay and Kornbluth. “In the case of @Harvard, President Gay was asked by me 17x whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s code of conduct. She spoke her truth 17x. And the world heard.”

Stefanik, along with a group of 71 bipartisan lawmakers, sent a letter to the governing boards of Harvard, Penn, and MIT last week urging them to remove their university leaders.

Billionaire hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman, a Harvard graduate, has been among Gay’s most vocal critics. In a letter to Harvard’s board on Sunday, Ackman wrote that Gay, who was inaugurated in July, “has done more damage to the reputation of Harvard University than any individual in our nearly 500-year history.”

Ackman has also questioned Gay’s academic integrity and values, posting on social media content that implies Gay, who is the first Black woman to lead Harvard, was hired to fulfill diversity metrics. In his letter, he attacked Harvard’s diversity, equity, and inclusion practices as a “major contributing source of discriminatory practices on campus.”

“I stand by the integrity of my scholarship,” Gay responded to Ackman in a statement. “Throughout my career, I have worked to ensure my scholarship adheres to the highest academic standards.”