I have no particular love for Claudine Gay, but this is a *major* victory for reactionary donors and the far right's campaign to dismantle American higher education.
When I decided to be a humanities scholar in the late 90s I thought I was joining a group whose work was ignored, not actively hated and targeted. Our professional organizations either need to start fighting hard just disband.
If the left clings to indefensible positions like to Gay, the right can fight easily and then celebrate the victory.
But how is this a victory to dismantle higher education? Harvard is hardly representative for it.
if you pointed out how insular and preening ivy leagues are as institutions i’m all in, but you sound like someone who reads maybe two major media outlets and calls that being informed.
Harvard is indeed not representative for higher education in America and shouldn't be seen that way.
But in one way, Harvard is still very important, and that is the number of professors of other, normal universities coming from Ivy Leagues.
The shown plagiarism of the president of a university that punishes its students for less plagiarism. Intolerable.
By yesterday, Harvard had realized the situation and recommended Gay strongly to resign.
