Top Republican Elise Stefanik cheered the ‘forced resignation’ of embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay following weeks of pressure.
‘Two down. 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,’ she said in a statement first obtained by DailyMail.com.
Backlash erupted after the presidents of Harvard, UPenn and MIT failed to unequivocally condemn the genocide of Jews during a hearing on anti-Semitism on Capitol Hill last month.
Stefanik had put the liberal university presidents in the hot seat – asking them whether ‘calling for the genocide of Jews’ would violate their schools’ codes of conducts.
She directly asked Harvard President Claudine Gay if ‘calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no.’
‘It can be depending on the context,’ replied Gay. She has since received numerous calls to step down following her failure to directly condemn anti-Semitism.
Since the hearing, new allegations that the president engaged in plagiarism emerged, including six this week alone, bringing the total to nearly 50.
Harvard President Claudine Gay had still remained in power despite backlash about her testimony last month
According to Harvard’s student newspaper The Crimson, the university is planning to send out an email later today announcing Gay’s resignation. Her tenure is the shortest in the history of the school.
The former president also put out her long resignation letter saying that she did not come to the decision ‘easily.’
‘But, after consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than any individual,’ she wrote.
Gay will stay on as a member of Harvard’s faculty, she continued.
The former president did not acknowledge where she went wrong and did not mention of her refusal to condemn antisemitism as harassment.
But she said that she has been the victim of racist threats, saying it has been ‘frightening’ and ‘distressing’ to have her character questioned.
The Harvard Corporation released a statement in response to Gay’s resignation, expressing ‘great sadness’ and thanking Gay for her ‘deep and unwavering commitment to Harvard and to the pursuit of academic excellence.’
‘Stay tuned. Harvard Corporation Board Members’ resignations must be forthcoming,’ Stefanik, R-N.Y., added in a post on X.
‘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,’ she continued.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said that Gay’s plan to stay on faculty is ‘not okay.’
‘People who embrace Hamas terrorism and refuse to condemn anti-Semitism have NO PLACE at American universities, and she should be fired,’ he wrote on X.
UPenn President Liz Magil and MIT President Sally Kornbluth gave similar non-responses to Stefanik during the hearing.
‘If the speech turns into conduct it can be harassment, yes,’ UPenn President Liz Magill told Stefanik last month.
Pressed further, she said: ‘It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman.’
UPenn’s Liz Magill was forced to resign following the backlash, but Harvard had continued to back up its president Claudine Gay.
Following the hearing, the Harvard Corporation, which governs the university, announced they wanted her to stay on as president – despite her December 5 testimony before Congress.
And Gay had been told that the university leadership still supported her, in the face of calls for her to resign.
But that changed after the mounting allegations of plagiarism.
Stefanik added in a statement that Gay’s answers were ‘absolutely pathetic and devoid of the moral leadership and academic integrity required of the President of Harvard.’
‘This is just the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history.’
And she promised that the ‘robust’ congressional investigation into the matter will continue.
Republicans have also called to withhold all federal funding to Harvard and other liberal universities supportive of anti-Semitism.
Harvard has received over $3 billion in taxpayer dollars between 2018 and 2022 and also enjoys tax breaks on its massive endowment. Between those same years, Harvard’s endowment totaled over $50 billion, of which $2 billion got special tax treatment, according to an OpenTheBooks analysis.
‘We must DEFUND the rot in America’s higher education,’ House GOP Chairwoman Elise Stefanik told DailyMail.com in a statement.
She is pledging to ‘cut off’ schools that are encouraging anti-Semitism from receiving federal funds.
Stefanik put the liberal university’s presidents in the hot seat – asking them whether ‘calling for the genocide of Jews’ would violate their schools’ codes of conducts
The top Republican called it ‘unacceptable and unAmerican’ that taxpayer dollars are going to universities whose students and staff have ‘openly called for the genocide of Jews.’
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., has called on her to resign and says taxpayer dollars going to Harvard and other universities must be re-examined.
‘President Gay’s testimony was deplorable, and she should resign,’ said Scalise to DailyMail.com.
‘It is obvious we need a full investigation into whether universities that receive taxpayer dollars are enabling a culture of antisemitism and discrimination on campus, and I am glad that the Education and Workforce Committee is initiating that probe.’
In December, the House voted on a resolution to condemn anti-Semitism on college campuses and the testimonies of the presidents last week.
The vote cleared 303-126 and 125 Democrats joined only one Republican – Rep. Thomas Massie, Ky., – in voting ‘no.’
Stefanik and Scalise lead the measure along with Democrats Jared Moskowitz and Josh Gottheimer.
Last month, Stefanik’s team fired back at NBC’s Saturday Night Live’s ‘appalling’ sketch depicting the presidents’ testimony.
Stefanik and Scalise lead the measure along with Democrats Jared Moskowitz and Josh Gottheimer
A top advisor for the leadership Republican told DailyMail.com that although Stefanik did not watch the skit, her office has been ‘flooded’ with messages from Republicans and Democrats who were ‘ appalled and disgusted by the antisemitic trash spewed by unfunny, morally bankrupt ‘comedians.”
‘SNL made history with the worst cold open ever because everyone knows there is absolutely no humor in the vile answers from the university presidents regarding their failure to condemn calls for the genocide of the Jewish people,’ said senior advisor Alex DeGrasse.