Harvard is 'redefining plagiarism' in an effort to protect embattled president Claudine Gay, an academic whose work was reportedly lifted without credit.
Political scientist Carol Swain contacted the Ivy League institution after it admitted there were “instances of inadequate citation” in the president's dissertation, but took no further action.
She accused Gay of “harming academia” and disadvantaging black people for refusing to resign.
'My message to Harvard University is that you don't have to redefine what plagiarism is (…) What they have done is very humiliating to everyone, not just racial and ethnic minorities, to everyone who worked hard in school, who has tried to follow the guidelines is an insult to our intelligence,” Swain said.
In a separate interview, Swain told City Journal that “a white man would probably be gone by now.”
Swain joins a growing number of critics calling for Gay's resignation amid the fallout from her disastrous congressional hearing, where she said calling for a Jewish genocide is permissible depending on “context.”
However, Harvard continues to support Gay and announced Tuesday that she would remain in her role despite the outcry.
Political scientist Carol Swain claimed Harvard is trying to 'redefine' plagiarism to protect President Claudine Gay as she faces mounting calls to quit over her inability to get a handle on the anti-Semitism engulfing her campus
Demands for Gay's resolution increased after her disastrous confirmation hearing before Congress, where she refused to outright condemn students who used anti-Semitic hate speech
A truck carrying messages for Gay to resign has been spotted near the Harvard campus
Swain was named by Christopher Rufo and Christopher Brunet of the Manhattan Institute as one of those who plagiarized the Harvard leader in her 1997 dissertation.
“Claudine Gay must resign,” Swain said Fox Digital. “It's clear that the Harvard Corporation didn't have the courage to fire its first black president, someone who should never have been higher in the first place.”
Gay has denied plagiarizing any work, saying she has always “worked to ensure that my scholarship meets the highest academic standards.”
A Washington Free Post investigation found that in four articles, including Gay's dissertation, published between 1993 and 2017, she “paraphrased or quoted nearly two dozen authors—including two of her colleagues in Harvard University's government department— without proper citation. ,'
An investigation launched by her own university revealed “instances of inadequate citation” in her academic writings, although there was no evidence of any “research misconduct.”
Harvard Corporation said a team of “leading political scientists” reviewed Gay's published works in December 9 but found 'no violation' of investigative standards.
Gay then confirmed that she would table amendments to four articles.
The decision has angered retired Vanderbilt University professor Swain.
“My blood pressure is rising today because of Harvard University's decision,” she said.
Swain claims that Gay lifted her seminal text Black Faces, Black Interests without giving proper credit
Gay was accused of copying two paragraphs from the work of then-Harvard scholars D. Stephen Voss and Bradley Palmquist. One paragraph is almost identical, except for a few words
However, Gay did not use quotation marks or quotations in the text – Voss and Palmquist are not cited anywhere in her dissertation
“If Harvard thinks it would be bad optics to release or fire its first black president, then the optics are much worse for those who support it in its efforts to redefine plagiarism. It's ridiculous, it's absurd and it hurts their brand,” Swain told Fox.
The scholar is an outspoken conservative in liberal academia and previously served on President Donald Trump's “Commission of 1776,” which aimed to increase “patriotic education.”
Swain claims that Gay failed to quote her seminal text, Black Faces, Black Interests, and that she gets a “free pass” because she is a “product of DEI regulations.”
“They've decided that they would rather lower the standards for everyone rather than hold her, who attended most of the, you know, elite schools in America, to the same standards that the average American is held to,” Swain said.
The Executive Committee of the Harvard University Alumni Association announced their full support for the scholar and asked the school's administrators to publicly endorse her, according to The Harvard Crimson.
The group wrote: “President Gay is the right leader to guide the university during this challenging time… She is thoughtful. She is kind. She is firmly committed to the growth and well-being of our highly diverse community.
Gay was accused of 'harming academia' and 'harming black people' by refusing to resign among plagiarism claims
Despite her disastrous altercation with Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik on Capitol Hill, Gay has retained her institution's support
Since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, numerous pro-Palestinian rallies have sprung up on Harvard's campus
“We recognize that there was disappointment in her testimony this past week. President Gay has pointed this out and apologized for the hurt her testimony caused – a powerful demonstration of her integrity, determination and courage.”
Gay's testimony before Congress was heavily criticized when she outright denounced hate speech against Jews.
Billionaire donor and Harvard alum Bill Ackman labeled Gay “morally bankrupt” over her conversation with New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik on Capitol Hill last week.
Ackman had already withdrawn funding from the institute due to its inadequate approach to anti-Semitism in the wake of tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters following the October 7 attacks.
He claimed that the university has lost $1 billion in donations, “from a small group of Harvard's most generous Jewish and non-Jewish alumni.”
Gay, 53, survived a scheduled meeting of Harvard's board of trustees on Sunday amid calls for her removal.
The same cannot be said for her colleague at UPenn Liz Magill, who resigned as president amid fierce criticism over her responses at the same congressional hearing.
She and Gay appeared alongside MIT leader Sally Kornbluth, who gave similarly ambiguous answers about whether hate speech is allowed on campus.