Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who has actively sought the ousting of Harvard President Claudine Gay applauded her resignation on Tuesday afternoon.
Ackman, a Harvard graduate and donor, vocally campaigned for the resignations of Gay, as well as the president’s of MIT, Sally Kornblut, and Upenn, Elizabeth Magill following their failure to unequivocally condemn antisemitism on their college’s campuses at a congressional hearing last month.
Gay resigned following the disastrous congressional hearing last month and mounting allegations of plagiarism in her academic work.
Ackman wrote ‘Et tu Sally?’ on X following the news.
The comment appears to be alluding to the president of MIT, Sally Kornblut, the only one of the three to not have resigned.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman , who has actively sought the ousting of Harvard President Claudine Gay applauded her resignation on Tuesday afternoon
U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) during the tense House Education and The Workforce Committee hearing in December
Harvard President Claudine Gay at the congressional hearing last month
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik called the resignation of Gay ‘just the beginning’ of ‘the greatest scandal of any college or university in history.’
Stefanik, who chaired the committee hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, has led the calls for the resignation of Gay, the president’s of MIT, Sally Kornblut, and Upenn, Elizabeth Magill.
‘Harvard knows that this long overdue forced resignation of the antisemitic plagiarist president is just the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history’ the Republican wrote in response to Gay’s resignation.
‘Harvard Corporation Board Members’ resignations must be forthcoming’ she continued.
‘They are complicit in covering up this massive scandal with unbelievable arrogance and cavalier attitudes that irreparably damaged Harvard’s academic integrity and moral leadership.’
In an email announcing her resignation to colleagues , Gay wrote that she was standing down after ‘consultation’ with the school’s board, which has been under pressure to replace her after defending her congressional testimony about campus antisemitism.
Gay, the school’s first black president, was appointed to the post in July 2023.
In the email she failed to acknowledge where she went wrong – making no mention of her refusal to condemn antisemitism as harassment at a December 5 congressional hearing or the mounting claims of plagiarism against her – but said she had been the victim of racist threats.
The hearing also saw widely criticized testimony from MIT president Sally Kornbluth (left) and University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill (right)
She said it had been ‘frightening’ to find herself the target of threats, and ‘distressing’ to have her character questioned.
Gay complained: ‘It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor—two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am—and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus.’
She said it was with a ‘heavy heart’ that she was standing down, but confirmed she would retain some kind of role at the school.
‘I believe we have within us all that we need to heal from this period of tension and division and to emerge stronger.
‘I had hoped with all my heart to lead us on that journey, in partnership with all of you.
‘As I now return to the faculty, and to the scholarship and teaching that are the lifeblood of what we do, I pledge to continue working alongside you to build the community we all deserve,’ she said.
The Harvard Corporation said it had accepted her resignation ‘with sorrow’.
Gay will be replaced by Alan M. Garber, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, who sat behind her at the infamous December 5 hearing, nodding as she made her remarks.
Her six month tenure as president is the shortest in the school’s history.