Harvard President Claudine Gay is hit with plagiarism accusations – which she DENIES and says she ‘stands by the integrity of my scholarship’ as she faces pressure to step down after disastrous congressional hearing

Harvard President Claudine Gay has denied plagiarism during her academic career amid growing pressure to resign following her disastrous congressional hearings.

In a statement for Boston Globe on Monday, Gay said, “I stand by the integrity of my scholarship. Throughout my career, I have worked to ensure that my scholarship meets the highest academic standards.”

This comes after billionaire hedge fund boss and Harvard graduate Bill Ackman shared allegations of plagiarism leveled against Gay by bloggers Christopher Rufo and Christopher Brunet, who claim the Harvard leader retracted identical language in her 1997 dissertation.

The 53-year-old has come under scrutiny after she failed to condemn anti-Semitism in a shocking exchange with New York GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik on Capitol Hill last week.

Gay responded that it depends on the context whether calls for genocide of Jews at Harvard constitute harassment and a violation of the rules.

Harvard President Claudine Gay today denied plagiarism during her academic career amid growing pressure to resign.

Swain responded to the claims on Twitter, writing: “I just learned of the analysis of #ClaudineGay’s work and allegations of plagiarism. Dr. Gay’s committee, reviewers and colleagues should have identified these alleged violations.”

Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania is the only one of the three Ivy League presidents to resign after her testimony last week, but pressure is mounting on Harvard to fire Gay.

The Harvard Corporation, one of two governing boards, is set to meet on Monday.

On Sunday, bloggers Rufo and Brunet accused Gay of using almost verbatim statements from authors Lawrence Bobo and Franklin Gilliam, as well as scholar Carol Swain.

Swain responded to the claims on Twitter, writing: ‘I just learned about the analysis of #ClaudineGay’s work and accusations of plagiarism. I have not read the articles or books referred to. However, two things come to mind: imitation is believed to be the highest form of flattery, and secondly, Dr. Gay’s committee, reviewers and colleagues should have identified these alleged violations.”

However, Harvard professor Lobo, one of those alleged to have plagiarized Gay, told the Boston Globe: “I’m not concerned about these allegations because our work has been clearly recognized.”

In general, Harvard’s institutional groups appear to be pro-gay.

More than 640 Harvard faculty members signed a letter in support of Gay, urging the school to resist calls to fire her, calling attacks against her “politically motivated.”

Harvard professor Lawrence Lobo, one of the scientists who allegedly plagiarized Gay, told the Boston Globe: “I’m not concerned because our work has been clearly recognized.”

Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard, appears before the House Education Committee on Tuesday to discuss anti-Semitism.

On Monday, the executive committee of the Harvard Alumni Association expressed unanimous support for Gay and asked the school’s leadership to publicly support her, The Harvard Crimson reported.

The association’s move follows Ackman’s open letter to Harvard, his alma mater, accusing Gay of “doing more damage to Harvard’s reputation than anyone in the university’s history.”

The billionaire demanded that the university’s board of directors review Gay’s history, including allegations of plagiarism and discrimination against those who fail to meet diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles.

Ackman also cited the case of former Winthrop House dean of faculty Ronald Sullivan, who in 2019 accused Gay of firing him from his position because of his work on Harvey Weinstein’s defense team.

The law professor, who was the first black dean of Harvard School, accused Gay and college dean Rakesh Khurana of lying about his motives for firing him when they claimed it was because he created a toxic work environment.

“The actions were cowardly and cowardly, and Dean Gay and Dean Khurana continually and repeatedly lied to students, and they know better,” he said, according to The Harvard Crimson.

“Their problem was that I represented an unpopular figure… They said it to my face, and other senior members said it to my face, and then they turned around and lied to the students.”

The real Elise Stefanik (pictured) celebrated Magill’s resignation on Saturday by sharing a message that began: “One down.” Two left’

Ackman said: “As dean, Gay showed no respect for basic American legal principles when she fired Harvard Law School professor Ronald Sullivan as residential dean for taking on Harvey Weinstein’s legal defense. “President Gay should hope that someday when she needs advice, she can get quality representation for herself.”

Harvard denies the decision was prompted by Sullivan’s collaboration with Weinstein, which sparked protests on campus. Sullivan remains a law professor at Harvard.

In his letter to the Harvard board, Ackman also cited Harvard’s sharp decline in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s (FIRE) college free speech rankings since Gay took office. Although the school has never been ranked number one on the list, it achieved its worst ever ranking, finishing in dead last place.

FIRE said: “Harvard ended its downward move in dramatic fashion, finishing in last place with its worst score ever: 0.00 out of a possible 100.00. This earns it the infamous distinction of being the only school to be rated as having a ‘terrible’ speech environment this year.”

Gay, a professor of government and African and African American studies, took office as Harvard’s first black president back in July. She became interested in DEI policy and created the Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.