Top Republican Elise Stefanik cheers ‘long overdue’ and ‘forced’ resignation of embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay over antisemitic testimony and plagiarism allegations
Republican top woman Elise Stefanik applauded the “forced resignation” of Harvard's controversial president, Claudine Gay, as first reported Tuesday by Harvard's student newspaper The Crimson.
“Two down. Harvard knows that this long-awaited forced resignation of its anti-Semitic plagiarist president is only the beginning of what will be the biggest scandal of any college or university in history,” she said in a statement first obtained by DailyMail. com.
The 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 liberal university presidents first by asking them whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate their schools' codes of conduct.
She asked Harvard President Claudine Gay directly whether “calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard's rules on bullying and harassment? Yes or no.'
“It may depend on the context,” Gay replied. She has since received numerous calls to resign after failing to directly condemn anti-Semitism.
Since the hearing, at least eight allegations have also been made that the president is guilty of plagiarism.
Harvard President Claudine Gay is still in power, despite criticism of her testimony last week
According to The Crimson, the university plans to send an email announcing Gay's resignation later today. Her tenure is the shortest in the school's history.
The former president also issued a lengthy statement saying she did not come to the decision “easily.”
“But after consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in Harvard's best interests that I resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather than an individual. she wrote.
Gay will remain on the Harvard faculty, she continued.
'Stay tuned. The resignation of the Harvard Corporation board members must come soon,” Stefanik added in a post on X.
“They are complicit in covering up this massive scandal with incredible arrogance and cavalier attitudes that have irreparably damaged Harvard's academic integrity and moral leadership,” she continued.
UPenn President Liz Magil and MIT President Sally Kornbluth gave similar non-responses to Stefanik during the hearing.
“If the speech turns into behavior, it could be harassment, yes,” UPenn President Liz Magill told Stefanik last week.
Pressed further, she said, “It's a context-dependent decision, Congresswoman.”
UPenn's Liz Magill was forced to resign after the backlash, but Harvard continued to support President Claudine Gay.
After the hearing, the Harvard Corporation, which governs the university, announced that it wanted her to stay on as president — despite her December 5 testimony before Congress.
And Gay had been told that university leadership still supported her despite calls for her resignation.
But that changed after increasing accusations of plagiarism.
Republicans have also called for withholding all federal funding from Harvard and other liberal universities that support anti-Semitism.
Harvard has received more than $3 billion in taxpayer money between 2018 and 2022 and also benefits from tax breaks on its massive endowments. Between those same years, Harvard's endowment totaled more than $50 billion, with $2 billion receiving special tax treatment, according to an OpenTheBooks analysis.
“We must EXPLORE the rot in American higher education,” Republican Party Chairwoman Elise Stefanik told DailyMail.com in a statement.
She promises to “cut off” schools that encourage anti-Semitism from federal funds.
Stefanik put the liberal university presidents first and asked them whether “calling for genocide of Jews” would violate their schools' codes of conduct
The Republican top called it 'unacceptable and unAmerican' that taxpayer money goes to universities whose students and employees have 'openly called for the genocide of the Jews'.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., has called for her to resign, saying taxpayer money going to Harvard and other universities should be reexamined.
“President Gay's testimony was deplorable and she should resign,” Scalise told DailyMail.com.
“It is clear that we need a full investigation into whether universities receiving taxpayer dollars are enabling a culture of anti-Semitism and discrimination on campus, and I am pleased that the Education and Workforce Committee is initiating that investigation.”
In December, the House of Representatives voted on a resolution to condemn anti-Semitism on college campuses and the presidents' testimonies last week.
The vote passed 303 to 126, with 125 Democrats voting along with just one Republican – Rep. Thomas Massie, Ky. – 'no'.
Stefanik and Scalise are leading the measure along with Democrats Jared Moskowitz and Josh Gottheimer.
Last month, Stefanik's team fired back at the “terrible” sketch from NBC's Saturday Night Live with images of the presidents' testimonies.
Stefanik and Scalise are leading the measure along with Democrats Jared Moskowitz and Josh Gottheimer
A top adviser to the Republican leadership told DailyMail.com that although Stefanik has not viewed the skit, her office has been “inundated” with messages from Republicans and Democrats who were “shocked and disgusted by the anti-Semitic garbage spewed by unfunny, moral bankrupt comedians.
“SNL made history with its worst cold snap ever because everyone knows there is absolutely no humor in the university presidents' vile responses about their failure to condemn calls for genocide against the Jewish people,” said senior advisor Alex DeGrasse.