- Amid calls for President Gay's resignation, faculty members are now turning the spotlight on the other 11 members of the Harvard Corporation
- A professor has suggested an overhaul of the governance structure to allow lawmakers to appoint board members to represent the public
Harvard University's board of directors is under pressure to resign over its handling of the anti-Semitic furor.
As calls for Gay's resignation grow, faculty members are now turning the spotlight on the other 11 members of the Harvard Corporation – the powerful Ivy League governing body that continues to support her.
According to the Wall Street Journal, one professor has even suggested an overhaul of the governance structure to allow lawmakers to appoint board members who represent the public interest.
Meanwhile, former Harvard Medical School dean Jeffrey Flier said he told board members Tracy Palandjian and Paul Finnegan to do more to address ongoing unrest around the school.
“You have to be more open here,” Flier recalled telling executives when he spoke to The New York Times. “When people say the university makes mistakes, they mean you!”
As calls for President Claudine Gay (pictured) to step down grow louder, faculty members are now turning the spotlight on the other 11 members of the Harvard Corporation – the powerful Ivy League governing body that continues to support them
Former Harvard Medical School dean Jeffrey Flier said he told board members Tracy Palandjian (left) and Paul Finnegan (right) to do more to address the ongoing unrest
“They're under pressure, that's obvious,” Flier added in an interview with the WSJ.
“They are the trustee and no one will deny that Harvard's reputation has suffered significant damage worldwide…It is under their watch that this is happening.”
Professor Kit Parker said the school was facing a fork in the road and board members needed to resign so it could take the right path.
“The big question now is: How arrogant is Harvard?” the professor of bioengineering and applied physics told the WSJ.
“And when I say Harvard, I mean the Harvard Corporation. 'Do you think that's going to go away?'
“I didn’t always get it right,” said Harvard President Dr. Claudine Gay in her opening speech
Gay sparked outrage at a congressional hearing earlier this month after she said it depends on the context whether calls for genocide against Harvard's Jews constituted harassment and violated the rules.
The president, who has recently dismissed reports that she was also a plagiarist, initially sparked outrage after the Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 people in Israel when she cautiously condemned the attack.
She then issued two apologies in which she further condemned Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group behind the atrocities.
Gay has been criticized for taking a free-speech stance on hatred of Jews on a campus recently considered the most censored in the United States.
New students are warned that not using a person's required pronoun or being “fatphobic” may result in violence.
The Harvard Corporation admitted that it should have condemned Hamas's attack in Israel earlier, but gave it full support for continuing its role.
“Our extensive deliberations confirm our confidence that President Gay is the right leader to help our community heal and address the very serious societal issues we face,” the board said in a statement.
It continued: “So many people have suffered enormous harm and suffering as a result of Hamas' brutal terrorist attack, and the university's initial statement should have been an immediate, direct and unambiguous condemnation.”
The Harvard Corporation, formally President and Fellows of Harvard College, has 12 members, including Gay, former Amherst College President Biddy Martin and former American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault.
Gay, the school's first Black president, was appointed to the position in July 2023.