What Harvard President Claudine Gay’s Resignation Says About The State of American Academia

Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned on Tuesday, drawing media perspectives.

Jumped The Shark: Bret Stephens (Lean Right bias) of New York Times Opinion (Left bias) opined that the “social-justice model of higher education currently centered on diversity, equity and inclusion” has undermined a merit-based culture, citing Gay’s lackluster resume as an example. Stephens said Affirmative Action has deeply damaged academia’s reputation and argued that “status without excellence is a rapidly wasting asset.” He added that respect for academia among “ordinary people” has been erased and that institutions should aim to “liberate the best minds, not to engineer social utopias.”

Opportunistic Firing: An opinion for The Forward (Center bias) said Gay’s “plagiarism kerfuffle” will soon be forgotten, but her angering of “rich pro-Israel donors, as well as opportunistic activists and politicians” will not be, which should be “chilling.” The writer added that American Jews, who understandably feel vulnerable, are now “swept up in a moral panic” where their “greatest fears are weaponized against the American liberalism that has welcomed Jews for a hundred years.”

Moral Rot: An opinion for The New York Post (Right bias) said Gay’s resignation is “just the start” and raises concerns over the integrity of Harvard’s board, which “threatened The Post and possibly others who dared question her background and qualifications.” The writer said the case goes beyond Harvard and “illustrates the moral rot that has turned many of the nation’s most prestigious campuses into leftist indoctrination factories.” Updated 1/3/24 at 7:51pm ET to specify that Stephens is rated Lean Right.