Jump to content

Claudine Gay: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
uncited
Tags: Undo Reverted
She was the president--change just announced
Line 34: Line 34:
}}
}}
}}
}}
'''Claudine Gay''' (born August 4, 1970)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simba |first=Malik |date=2023-01-11 |title=Claudine Gay (1970-) • |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/claudine-gay-1970/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Saul |first1=Stephanie |last2=Patel |first2=Vimal |date=December 15, 2022 |title=Harvard Names a New President, an Insider and Historic First |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/us/harvard-president-claudine-gay.html |access-date=December 16, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> is an American political scientist and academic administrator who is the 30th [[president of Harvard University]], and the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies.<ref name="news.harvard.edu">{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2022 |title=Harvard names Claudine Gay 30th president |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/12/harvard-names-claudine-gay-30th-president/ |access-date=July 5, 2023 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref> Gay's research addresses American political behavior, including voter turnout and politics of race and identity.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Claudine Gay |url=https://aaas.fas.harvard.edu/people/claudine-gay |access-date=December 10, 2023 |website=aaas.fas.harvard.edu |language=en}}</ref>
'''Claudine Gay''' (born August 4, 1970)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simba |first=Malik |date=2023-01-11 |title=Claudine Gay (1970-) • |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/claudine-gay-1970/ |access-date=2024-01-01 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Saul |first1=Stephanie |last2=Patel |first2=Vimal |date=December 15, 2022 |title=Harvard Names a New President, an Insider and Historic First |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/us/harvard-president-claudine-gay.html |access-date=December 16, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> is an American political scientist and academic administrator who was the 30th [[president of Harvard University]], and the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies.<ref name="news.harvard.edu">{{Cite web |date=December 15, 2022 |title=Harvard names Claudine Gay 30th president |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/12/harvard-names-claudine-gay-30th-president/ |access-date=July 5, 2023 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref> Gay's research addresses American political behavior, including voter turnout and politics of race and identity.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Claudine Gay |url=https://aaas.fas.harvard.edu/people/claudine-gay |access-date=December 10, 2023 |website=aaas.fas.harvard.edu |language=en}}</ref>


On assuming office in 2023, she became Harvard's first black president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Claudine Gay Takes Office, Officially Becoming Harvard's First Black President|work=The Harvard Crimson|first1=Miles J.|last1=Herszenhorn|first2=Claire|last2=Yuan|date=July 2, 2023|access-date=December 7, 2023 |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/7/2/claudine-gay-in-office/}}</ref> Prior to that, she served as the Edgerley Family Dean of [[Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].
On assuming office in 2023, she became Harvard's first black president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Claudine Gay Takes Office, Officially Becoming Harvard's First Black President|work=The Harvard Crimson|first1=Miles J.|last1=Herszenhorn|first2=Claire|last2=Yuan|date=July 2, 2023|access-date=December 7, 2023 |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/7/2/claudine-gay-in-office/}}</ref> Prior to that, she served as the Edgerley Family Dean of [[Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences]].

Revision as of 18:39, 2 January 2024

Claudine Gay
30th President of Harvard University
In office
July 1, 2023 – January 2, 2024
Preceded byLawrence Bacow
Succeeded byTBD
Dean of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
In office
August 15, 2018 – June 30, 2023
Preceded byMichael D. Smith
Succeeded byEmma Dench (interim)
Hopi Hoekstra
Personal details
BornAugust 4, 1970 (53 years old)
New York City, U.S.
SpouseChristopher Afendulis
RelationsRoxane Gay (cousin)
Children1
EducationStanford University (BA)
Harvard University (PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsPolitical science
InstitutionsHarvard University
ThesisTaking Charge: Black Electoral Success and the Redefinition of American Policies (1997)

Claudine Gay (born August 4, 1970)[1][2] is an American political scientist and academic administrator who was the 30th president of Harvard University, and the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies.[3] Gay's research addresses American political behavior, including voter turnout and politics of race and identity.[4]

On assuming office in 2023, she became Harvard's first black president.[5] Prior to that, she served as the Edgerley Family Dean of Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Gay's role as university president came to international media attention following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel,[6] when she was accused[7] of not responding to antisemitism on campus[8][9] and of not adequately condemning the attacks.[10] In the aftermath of the hearing, accusations that Gay had plagiarised parts of her dissertation and multiple papers resurfaced in various media outlets.[11][12] She is expected to resign effective January 2, 2024, which would make her tenure the shortest in the university's history.[13]

Early life and education

Gay grew up the child of Haitian immigrants who came to the United States and met in New York City as students. Her mother studied nursing and her father studied engineering.[14] Gay spent much of her childhood first in New York City, and then in Saudi Arabia, where her father worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,[15] while her mother was a registered nurse.[15] Gay is a cousin of writer Roxane Gay.[14]

Gay attended Phillips Exeter Academy, a private boarding school in Exeter, New Hampshire,[16] from which she graduated in 1988.[17] She then attended Princeton University for one year,[18][19][20] before transferring to Stanford University, where she studied economics. She received the Anna Laura Myers Prize for best undergraduate thesis in economics and graduated in 1992.[15] Gay earned her Ph.D. in 1998 from Harvard, where she won the university's Toppan Prize for the best dissertation in political science.[21] As a result of investigations into possible plagiarism by Gay, she made corrections to three citations in that dissertation.[22]

Academic career

After graduating, Gay was an assistant professor, and later tenured associate professor, in Stanford University's Department of Political Science from 2000 to 2006. In the 2003–2004 academic year, Gay was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.[15]

Gay's research addresses American political behavior, including voter turnout and politics of race and identity.[4] She was recruited by Harvard to be a professor of government in 2006, and was appointed professor of African American studies in 2007.[3]

Administrative positions

In 2015, Gay was named the Dean of Social Studies at the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African-American Studies. In 2018, she was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.[23]

As Dean of FAS, which oversees graduate and undergraduate studies, Gay outlined four priorities: increasing diversity among faculty, increasing interdisciplinary studies among students, encouraging collaboration among professors, and fostering faculty involvement in the university's community.[24]

In 2019, Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana declined to renew the appointments of Ronald Sullivan and Stephanie Robinson, the faculty deans of Winthrop House and Harvard's first Black faculty deans. This followed months of campus protests after Sullivan joined the legal defense team for Harvey Weinstein, who at the time was on trial for rape,[25] and public allegations of a toxic environment by Winthrop House tutors and staff.[26] The university announced that the decision was based on performance and morale at Winthrop House,[27] but Sullivan accused Khurana and Gay of capitulating to campus protestors.[28][29]

In 2020, the university faced educational and financial disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. For fiscal year 2020, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences reported losses of $15.8 million.[30] In 2021, Gay announced that the cost of the FAS's core academic commitments were greater than its revenues and began processes to reduce expenses including a freeze on faculty bonuses and salary increases, and a freeze on faculty searches.[24] In 2021, the FAS reported a surplus of $51 million, an increase from the projected deficit of $112 million.[31]

In addition to her time at Harvard and Stanford, Gay served as a vice president of the Midwest Political Science Association from 2014 to 2017[32] and was a trustee of Phillips Exeter Academy from 2017 to 2023.[16]

Harvard presidency

In June 2022, Harvard President Lawrence Bacow announced he would resign from the post in one year. A search committee, led by Penny Pritzker, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Corporation, considered 600 nominees and selected Gay to succeed Bacow. On December 15, 2022, Harvard announced that Gay had been selected as the 30th president of Harvard University.[33][34] She took office on July 1, 2023, becoming the university's first Black president.[35][36]

2023 congressional hearing

After the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Gay faced criticism, including from former Harvard President Lawrence Summers,[37][38] for failing to adequately condemn the attacks.

In a December 2023 Congressional hearing on antisemitism, Gay and two other university presidents were accused by some members of Congress of not doing enough to condemn and combat antisemitism on Harvard's campus.[39] When asked if a hypothetical call for the genocide of Jewish people would qualify as a violation of Harvard's code of conduct, Gay responded "It can be, depending on the context." She later clarified: "Antisemitic rhetoric, when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation — that is actionable conduct and we do take action."[40]

Gay's remarks were broadly criticized in the media.[41] In response, Gay apologized[42][43] and said that some people "have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students".[44][45] A letter signed by 70 Congressional Representatives called for all three presidents to resign.[46]

On December 11, more than 700 of Harvard's 2,452 faculty members signed a letter opposing calls for her to be removed as university president,[47] and Harvard's Alumni Association stated it "unanimously and unequivocally" supported Gay's leadership, praising her "for protecting academic freedom and the right of all students to voice their opinions".[48] On December 12, the board of the Harvard Corporation said they "unanimously" supported Gay's leadership, adding: "President Gay has apologized for how she handled her congressional testimony and has committed to redoubling the University's fight against antisemitism."[49]

Plagiarism allegations

Soon after the December 2023 congressional hearing, Gay was accused of plagiarism by conservative activists Christopher Rufo and Aaron Sibarium.[50][51][52] As summarized by The New York Times, the allegations concerned "using material from other sources without proper attribution in her dissertation and about half of the 11 journal articles listed on her résumé. The examples range from brief snippets of technical definitions to paragraphs summing up other scholars' research that are only lightly paraphrased, and in some cases lack any direct citation of the other scholars."[53]

Harvard University initially decried such allegations as "demonstrably false" when contacted by the New York Post in October 2023 for comment on a planned story about 27 "possible examples of plagiarism", and threatened to sue the newspaper for libel.[54] However, a subsequent internal review requested by Gay herself found "instances of inadequate citation".[54]

In response, Gay said she stood behind the integrity of her work.[51] The Harvard Corporation reported that the review found "a few instances of inadequate citation" in her work, but "no violation of Harvard's standards for research misconduct."[55] Gay requested corrections to add citations and quotation marks to her dissertation and two of her articles.[49][56] Harvard University announced on December 20 that it had discovered two additional instances of "duplicative language without appropriate attribution", giving rise to concerns whether the Harvard Corporation's process for investigating the allegations "has been overly lenient with" Gay, according to The New York Times.[53]

In response to the allegations, the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce stated that it would examine Gay's work; chairwoman Virginia Foxx said the inquiry would see if students and staff are held to the same academic standard.[57][58]

Personal life

Gay is married to Christopher Afendulis, an information systems analyst at Stanford University's Department of Health Research and Policy. They have a son who was born in 2006.[59]

Selected publications

  • 1998: "Doubly Bound: The Impact of Gender and Race on the Politics of Black Women", Political Psychology, co-authored with Katherine Tate
  • 2001: "The Effect of Black Congressional Representation on Political Participation", American Political Science Review
  • 2001: The Effect of Minority Districts and Minority Representation on Political Participation in California, Public Policy Institute of California
  • 2002: "Spirals of Trust? The Effect of Descriptive Representation on the Relationship Between Citizens and Their Government", American Journal of Political Science
  • 2004: "Putting Race in Context: Identifying the Environmental Determinants of Black Racial Attitudes", American Political Science Review
  • 2006: "Seeing Difference: The Effect of Economic Disparity on Black Attitudes Toward Latinos", American Journal of Political Science
  • 2007: "Legislating Without Constraints: The Effect of Minority Districting on Legislators' Responsiveness to Constituency Preferences", The Journal of Politics
  • 2012: "Moving to Opportunity: The Political Effects of a Housing Mobility Experiment", Urban Affairs Review
  • 2013: Outsiders No More? Models of Immigrant Political Incorporation, Oxford University Press, co-editor with Jacqueline Chattopadhyay, Jennifer Hochschild, and Michael Jones-Correa
  • 2014: "Knowledge Matters: Policy Cross-pressures and Black Partisanship", Political Behavior

References

  1. ^ Simba, Malik (January 11, 2023). "Claudine Gay (1970-) •". Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  2. ^ Saul, Stephanie; Patel, Vimal (December 15, 2022). "Harvard Names a New President, an Insider and Historic First". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Harvard names Claudine Gay 30th president". Harvard Gazette. December 15, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Claudine Gay". aaas.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  5. ^ Herszenhorn, Miles J.; Yuan, Claire (July 2, 2023). "Claudine Gay Takes Office, Officially Becoming Harvard's First Black President". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  6. ^ "How are Harvard, Penn presidents responding to campus anti-Semitism row?". Al Jazeera. December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  7. ^ Belkin, Douglas; Ellis, Lindsay (October 11, 2023). "Blaming Israel for Hamas Attacks Sparks Backlash Across U.S., Exposing Deep Rifts". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  8. ^ Saul, Stephanie; Hartocollis, Anemona (December 6, 2023). "College Presidents Under Fire After Dodging Questions About Antisemitism". The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  9. ^ Hensley, Sarah Beth (December 6, 2023). "Harvard's president answers backlash over response to calls for 'genocide of Jews'". ABC News. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  10. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona; Saul, Stephanie; Patel, Vimal (October 10, 2023). "At Harvard, a Battle Over What Should Be Said About the Hamas Attacks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  11. ^ Diver, Tony (December 11, 2023). "Harvard University president Claudine Gay accused of plagiarism amid anti-Semitism row". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  12. ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (December 21, 2023). "Harvard Finds More Instances of 'Duplicative Language' in President's Work". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  13. ^ "HARVARD PRESIDENT CLAUDINE GAY RESIGNS, SHORTEST TENURE IN UNIVERSITY HISTORY | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Meet the Haitian-American woman who's Harvard's new Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science". Afropunk. July 25, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  15. ^ a b c d "Claudine Gay named Harvard FAS dean". Harvard Gazette. July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Meet Our Trustees | Phillips Exeter Academy". www.exeter.edu. Archived from the original on February 2, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  17. ^ "The Scholar Everyone Sought: Claudine Gay, Harvard's Next President | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  18. ^ "The Scholar Everyone Sought: Claudine Gay, Harvard's Next President | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  19. ^ "Who is Claudine Gay, Harvard's president? And how has she made history?". WBAL. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  20. ^ "The Stanford Daily Archives". archives.stanforddaily.com. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  21. ^ Reuell, Peter (April 28, 2015). "Claudine Gay named dean of social science". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  22. ^ "Harvard President Claudine Gay to Submit 3 Additional Corrections, Corporation Says Improper Citations Fall Short of Research Misconduct | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  23. ^ "Claudine Gay". aaas.fas.harvard.edu. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  24. ^ a b Rosenberg, John (September 2021). "The Art of the Dean". Harvard Magazine.
  25. ^ Silvergate, Harvey (February 22, 2019). "Harvard, Harvey Weinstein, and Professor Ronald Sullivan". News. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  26. ^ "Winthrop Faculty Deans to Leave After Harvard Refuses to Renew Their Appointments | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  27. ^ Avi-Yonah, Shera S.; Ryan, Aidan F. (May 11, 2019). "Winthrop Faculty Deans to Leave After Harvard Refuses to Renew Their Appointments". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  28. ^ Avi-Yonah, Shera S.; Franklin, Delano R. (November 19, 2019). "Former Winthrop Dean Sullivan Criticizes Admins During Constitutional Law Society Event". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  29. ^ Sullivan, Robert (June 24, 2019). "Why Harvard Was Wrong to Make Me Step Down". The New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  30. ^ Rosenberg, John (January 2021). "The Financial Fallout…So Far". Harvard Magazine.
  31. ^ Nair, Meera S.; Wang, Andy Z. (November 3, 2021). "Defying Projections, FAS Ends Fiscal Year with $51M Surplus". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  32. ^ "Past Vice Presidents". MPSAnet.org. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  33. ^ Halpert, Madeline (December 15, 2022). "Claudine Gay: Harvard University picks first Black president". BBC News. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  34. ^ "Harvard names Claudine Gay as first ever Black president". United Press International. December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  35. ^ Herszenhorn, Miles J.; Yuan, Claire (July 4, 2023). "With End of Affirmative Action, Claudine Gay Faces Unprecedented Challenges to Start Harvard Presidency". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  36. ^ "Homepage". Harvard University President. January 21, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  37. ^ Belkin, Douglas; Ellis, Lindsay (October 11, 2023). "Blaming Israel for Hamas Attacks Sparks Backlash Across U.S., Exposing Deep Rifts". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  38. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona; Saul, Stephanie; Patel, Vimal (October 10, 2023). "At Harvard, a Battle Over What Should Be Said About the Hamas Attacks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  39. ^ Haslett, Cheyenne; Hensley, Sarah Beth (December 5, 2023). "Presidents of universities grilled on efforts to counter antisemitism on campus". ABC News. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  40. ^ Kim, Juliana; Chappell, Bill; Nadworny, Elissa (December 12, 2023). "Harvard affirms President Claudine Gay will not step down over antisemitism testimony". NPR. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  41. ^ Wieczner, Jen (December 12, 2023). "How Bill Ackman's Campaign to Oust Harvard's President Failed". Intelligencer. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  42. ^ Herszenhorn, Miles J.; Yuan, Claire. "'I Am Sorry': Harvard President Gay Addresses Backlash Over Congressional Testimony on Antisemitism". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  43. ^ "Harvard president apologizes for remarks on curbing antisemitism as pressure mounts on Penn's president". PBS NewsHour. December 8, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  44. ^ Guilfoil, Kyla (December 6, 2023). "White House condemns university presidents after contentious congressional hearing on antisemitism". NBC News. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  45. ^ Borter, Gabriella (December 7, 2023). "US House committee opens probe into Harvard, Penn, MIT after antisemitism hearing". Reuters. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  46. ^ Egan, Matt (December 9, 2023). "UPenn president Liz Magill and Board Chair Scott Bok resign after disastrous hearing on antisemitism | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
  47. ^ Arkin, Daniel (December 11, 2023). "Hundreds of Harvard faculty members urge university not to oust embattled president". NBC News. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  48. ^ Habeshian, Sareen (December 11, 2023). "Claudine Gay gets show of support from Harvard Alumni Association, faculty". Axios. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  49. ^ a b Natanson, Hannah; Svrluga, Susan (December 12, 2023). "Harvard president to remain after anger over testimony on antisemitism". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  50. ^ Diver, Tony (December 11, 2023). "Harvard University president Claudine Gay accused of plagiarism amid anti-Semitism row". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  51. ^ a b Burns, Hilary; Damiano, Mike (December 11, 2023). "Key Harvard oversight board offers silence as controversy engulfs Harvard president Claudine Gay". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  52. ^ Sibarium, Aaron (December 11, 2023). "'This is Definitely Plagiarism': Harvard University President Claudine Gay Copied Entire Paragraphs From Others' Academic Work and Claimed Them as Her Own". The Washington Free Beacon. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  53. ^ a b Schuessler, Jennifer (December 21, 2023). "Harvard Finds More Instances of 'Duplicative Language' in President's Work". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 26, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  54. ^ a b Kettles, Cam E.; Robinson, Tilly R. (December 25, 2023). "A Law Firm Said Plagiarism Allegations Against Harvard President Gay Were 'Demonstrably False.' Then She Submitted Corrections". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  55. ^ "Statement from the Harvard Corporation: Our President". Harvard University. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  56. ^ Souza, Sabrina; Egan, Matt (December 15, 2023). "Harvard President Claudine Gay corrects two scholarly articles following allegations of plagiarism". CNN. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  57. ^ Matza, Max (December 21, 2023). "Claudine Gay: New problems found in Harvard president's work". BBC News. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  58. ^ Egan, Matt (December 29, 2023). "Harvard granted extension to respond to House on plagiarism scandal | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  59. ^ Vaidyanathan, Vaishnavi (October 12, 2023). "Who Is Christopher Afendulis, Harvard President Claudine Gay's Husband?". TimesNow. Retrieved December 12, 2023.