Harvard's top-level exit: Politics beats academia

The resignation of Claudine Gay over Harvard rules reflects a US political rupture. It also reveals a contrast with an earlier controversy over words that's equally worthy of worry

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In a world of viral video clips and memes, academics who find themselves exposed to political scrutiny often seem ill-equipped for it. It is a hazard that claimed the job of Professor Claudine Gay, who resigned this week as president of Harvard University. She was chased by a scandal over her alleged plagiarism, which reportedly lost her board support, but was haunted by a raging controversy over student groups holding Israel partly responsible for Hamas's violence last October.

At a Congressional hearing last month on alleged anti-Jewish expressions on campus, a Republican Senator had posed Gay a yes-or-no question: "At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment-yes or no?" Gay's response: "It can, depending on the context." Words aimed at an individual, she tried to clarify, would differ.... But the damage was done. Her non-binary answer sparked outrage and calls for her ouster.